Den of Geek New York Comic Con 2022 Special Edition

1. Longevity doctor Peter Attia challenges Hemsworth to a four-day fast to unlock his body’s own anti-aging powers and give Chris the edge he needs when he tries to hunt for his next meal… by spearfishing off the Great Barrier Reef. In the training process for his great underwater hunt, Hemsworth plays some underwater hockey.

2. Tanya Streeter and Chris Hemsworth dive together.

3. Scientists believe exposure to extreme temperatures can trigger our bodies’ own defenses against the killer diseases of old age. Limitless’ experts use the one thing Hemsworth can’t resist to lure him into the freezing Arctic waters: surfing.

4. Chris Hemsworth stands on the beach with a surfboard.

5. Chris Hemsworth and Peter Attia sit in a sauna.

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6. Highlighting the physical effects of stress on the body, psychologist Modupe Akinola monitors Hemsworth’s vitals during a virtual-reality simulated walkthrough of a high-altitude crane walk. The results will aid in training Hemsworth in powerful physical and psychological techniques we can use to control stress.

7. Chris Hemsworth and frontline firefighter Tara Lal attempt to extinguish a fire and locate casualties.

8. Extreme sports guru Ross Edgley trains Hemsworth for a grueling rope climb challenge as he looks to build muscle in preparation for Thor: Love and Thunder, the kind of muscles that are scientifically proven to ensure he stays strong and healthy as he grows older in real life.

9. Chris Hemsworth smiles as he rows a boat.

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10. After working to keep his body healthy, Hemsworth turns the focus to his brain, going off-grid into the wilderness without a GPS or map to navigate through his buddy Otis Hope Carey’s remote ancestral homeland.

11. Using an “age simulation suit,” Hemworth reflects on the impact of an aging body, even taking some time out to test a mobility scooter with a friend.

12. Chris Hemsworth confronts mortality and meets his death doula, Alua Arthur.

NEW YORK COMIC CON

VIDEO GAME FIRSTS

Want

first video

HORROR SPECIAL

This

BATMAN SPAWN

Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo have reunited for Batman

, a major event on the

LISTENING

THE SPIRIT OF THE (SPOOKY) SEASON

DEN OF GEEK LOVES NEW YORK

Comic Con. This is, in many ways, our home show. Our offices are only a few blocks away from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which has hosted NYCC since its inaugural event in 2006. And as for me, personally, New York is my home; it’s where I attended my very first convention as a kid (a primarily Star Trek-themed affair at a midtown Manhattan hotel on a poorly lit floor). And face it, it’s the city where so many of our favorite stories take place.

But there’s also a weird dichotomy with NYCC’s October spot on the calendar. Amidst all the expected sci-fi, anime, and superhero programming and cosplay, it’s also the time when New York’s weather finally catches up to the fact that it’s autumn and it helps put us in the mindset that Halloween

is right around the corner. This means, at least for me, the cool swag at the con that I’m hunting for suddenly becomes a little darker and a little spookier than what I might be looking to pick up at San Diego Comic-Con, for example. This year, if you spot me on the show floor, I’ll probably be hunting for reprints of classic Tales From the Crypt comics, specifically versions that were published in the 1990s. It’s a long story. But anyway…

The fact that NYCC hits in October and that we’ve worked with the good folks at ReedPop to bring you a guide to the vendors and programming at the show (turn to page 66 and plan accordingly) gives us an excuse to put out a print edition right in the heart of our favorite dark holiday. Our print editor Rosie Fletcher is always looking

for a reason to sneak more horror into our mags, and I can tell she took particular delight in putting together this “Halloween Special.” Think of this issue as the print companion to the Spooky Season coverage that we’re rolling out all through the month on denofgeek.com, as well as our videos, podcasts, and social channels. There are now more ways than ever to interact with us on your favorite media, so come join the party and make every day Halloween or comic con or whatever else keeps your spirits high.

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ON THE COVER

New York Comic Con and October fit like a glove. What is NYCC if not the perfect place to test your Halloween costume? Forgive us if Spooky Season is on our mind; this year’s NYCC magazine is bursting at the seams with horror content, with significant players like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode from Halloween Ends, our new-look Pinhead from David Bruckner’s Hellraiser reimagining, Gael García Bernal from Marvel’s highly-anticipated Werewolf by Night, and more haunting our cover. Artist Neil Jamieson helped Frankenstein this hair-raising design, showing these once-and-future horror icons among NYC’s gothic highrises. We hope it does the trick in giving you a horrific treat!

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Spellbinding Audiobooks c z to Listen to this Fall

TENTPOLE MOVIE

Significant Other is a film about a couple on a camping trip with a secret sci-fi twist. But in making it, the directors discovered a lot about who is considered a likable protagonist and the choices expected of them.

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN is a film about some bank robbers who kidnap a pastor and his family. Then about half an hour into it, you realize that you’re watching a completely different movie altogether. Significant Other is a very different film from From Dusk Till Dawn, but it’s one that will similarly surprise audiences.

“When somebody asks us what the movie’s about, we just tell them it’s about a couple that goes camping in the woods, and something bad happens to them,” says Robert Olsen, who directs alongside Dan Berk. “It’s one of those films where there’s this pivot in it where you have two almost different types of movie.”

It is a movie that deliberately sets out to surprise.

“We always wanted the shape of it to be just a classic rollercoaster where it’s clicking up, clicking up, and then at the midpoint, you’re just like, ‘Okay, here we go,’” Berk agrees.

It makes Significant Other a difficult film to write about without giving anything away, but there are clues out there for the audience to follow. The first of which is the title, which tells us this is a movie about a relationship. But there’s more to it than that.

“I think the term ‘significant other,’ when you view it through just the normal lens, brings to mind somebody that you’re in love with or whatever,” Olsen says. “And yet, at the same time,

it implies that you’re not married. Not all the time, but that’s part of it. But when you view that title through a sci-fi lens, it puts something else into your head.”

The real clue, Olsen says, is not just the title but the font.

“If you see the title just typed in an article, it’s a little different than when you see it on the poster,” he says. “When it’s in a sci-fi font, all of a sudden the idea of ‘significant other’ has an eerie connotation.”

The poster and publicity bring to mind extremely low-fi, almost Blair Witch Project-style horror, but there’s more than that.

“Obviously, we’re putting forth this image of austerity and that ominous, eerie vibe, which is all accurate,” Berk says. “But the film is also really fun.”

A DECENT PROPOSAL?

Significant Other is about a couple, Ruth (Maika Monroe) and Harry (Jake Lacy), going camping and their relationship. Except really, it’s about something else. Except it really is about a couple in the woods and their relationship. A lot happens in Significant Other, but one of the key scenes of the film is the marriage proposal glimpsed in the trailer. For the directors, it was always intended to be a scary and unnerving scene.

“We always looked at it as, here is this woman being proposed to on

the edge of a cliff in the middle of the woods,” Olsen points out. “What kind of maniac would do that? But so many people read it as, what kind of maniac would say no to a perfectly nice, handsome man proposing to them?” Ruth loves Harry, and Harry

does seem like a nice enough guy, but she simply doesn’t want to get married. This is the idea that Olsen and Berk got the most pushback on.

WHEN IT’S IN A SCI-FI FONT, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE IDEA OF ‘SIGNIFICANT OTHER’ HAS AN EERIE CONNOTATION.”

“We had a lot of people tell us, ‘We need to make him much more of an asshole to make that decision [to turn down the proposal] make sense.’” Berk recalls.

This response led Olsen and Berk to lean further into the theme of what choices you are “allowed” to make in a relationship and still be considered likable.

“That was when we were like, ‘This is a really interesting kernel to explore,’” Berk says.

Over the course of the film, that conflict is played out across a different stage, but it’s a theme that stays close to the core of the story, and it’s about more than marriage proposals. “We started this not just with the marriage thing. It’s really just about living: can you live a life outside the rails that society sets for you?” Berk says.

Throughout the film, the audience discovers there is far more going on

Ruth discovers things that go bump in the night.

than a relationship spat on a camping trip, and the story goes to a lot of surprising places.

“I think there’s a lot of people who are going to be pleasantly surprised with the audacity of what happens later on,” Olsen hints.

WHOSE FILM IS IT ANYWAY?

“We’re playing with the idea of who the bad guy is,” Olsen says. In doing so, Significant Other breaks quite a few textbook filmmaking rules.

“There’s obviously a very triedand-true formula with most studio releases that you’re going to relate to this person,” Berk explains.

While some people who have read the script or seen the film are unsettled by the choices Olsen and Berk make, the directors noticed definite patterns in who did and did not connect with the story.

“The gender of whatever executive you’re talking to would make a big difference here,” Olsen points out. “A lot of people have come up to us—mostly women but some men, too—after watching the movie or reading the script and said, ‘Thank you. I feel seen by this,’” Berk adds.

Olsen and Berk are almost as surprised as the audience at the

places that the movie goes, given that it started as a lockdown-era script designed to be filmed on a shoestring budget.

“When we initially conceived the concept, we were just going to go and make it as a no-budget movie,” Berk says. “Our agents convinced us to pitch it around and try to do it as a real movie. Paramount was the partner that we ended up going with, and the rest is history.”

Both directors felt a sense of relief at getting to film in the great outdoors.

“We both had an amazing time being in Portland, Oregon, the film community there, how talented all

of the craftspeople who worked on this movie were, and what a joy it was to be out there in the wilderness,” Olsen says. “Especially after however many years that we all sat in our apartments, there was something about getting out, not just outside, but to the most gorgeous wilderness that we have. We finished a day under schedule. That never happens.”

But as Ruth and Harry quickly discover, there is a lot more to Significant Other than a pleasant trip to the woods.

Significant Other is streaming on Paramount+ from Oct. 7.

MORFYDD CLARK Getting real with Galadriel.

1 Morfydd (pronounced Maw-vith) Clark was born in Sweden to Irish-Scottish-Welsh parents and grew up in Penarth, South Wales. A proud Welsh speaker, Clark entertained the crowd at SDCC 2022 by reciting her 29-letter native alphabet. She feels an affinity with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s elf characters because Welsh was a major inspiration to J.R.R. Tolkien in the creation of the Elvish tongues.

2

At a premiere Q&A for The Personal History of David Copperfield at TIFF 2019, Clark left the stage and promptly fainted into the arms of a security guard. The reason? After seven auditions over many months across London, Barcelona, and L.A., she had just learned that she’d landed the Rings of Power gig, and she wasn’t allowed to tell a soul.

3 Before Rings of Power, Clark had never ridden a horse. In the almost two years she spent filming season one in New Zealand, she had to learn sword combat, free diving, rock-climbing, and horse-riding to play the part of the Lady Galadriel, commander of the Northern armies.

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Clark regularly helped out during lambing season at her uncle’s farm in Wales. She can recognize the signs of a laboring ewe in discomfort, catch a reluctant sheep in need of a midwife, and get a newborn lamb to sneeze its airways clear by tickling it on the nose with a blade of grass.

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Writer-director Rose Glass’ 2019 horror film Saint Maud is the role that Clark credits with changing her life. A startling debut about a palliative care nurse and devout Catholic who is obsessed with saving her patient’s soul, it brought her acclaim, attention, and award nominations. Clark’s next big film role will be Ophelia opposite Riz Ahmed in Hamlet.

NEW YORK CITY STORIES

THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL NGHI VO (TORDOTCOM PUBLISHING)

Many a high schooler got their first impression of New York City through Jay Gatsby’s glittering parties in the fictional West Egg on Long Island in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Nghi Vo’s retelling lifts the veil from Gatsby’s glamour through the eyes of queer Vietnamese socialite, golfer, and magician Jordan Baker, revealing the wicked price of these endless parties.

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI HELENE WECKER (HARPER PERENNIAL)

Helene Wecker’s historical fantasy explores the solidarity among immigrants in 19th-century New York City, except these two new arrivals to the Lower East Side are both displaced magical creatures: Chava, a golem freed from her controlling husband, and Ahmed, a jinni unleashed from his cage, yet powerless. Together, they learn to pass as human without losing sight of their inhuman destinies.

LABYRINTH LOST ZORAIDA CÓRDOVA (SOURCEBOOKS FIRE)

Zoraida Córdova’s Brooklyn Brujas YA trilogy follows the three Mortiz sisters and their specific gifts: Alejandra the encantrix, healer Lula, and Rose, who can sense spirits. Each burgeoning bruja learns that casting cantos (or spells) meant to improve their lives instead leads to cataclysmic consequences, which alter their relationships with one another as well as with the city itself.

THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM VICTOR LAVALLE (TORDOTCOM PUBLISHING)

Victor LaValle’s horror fantasy novella engages with the uglier aspects of H.P. Lovecraft’s legacy— namely, his most racist story, “The Horror in Red Hook.” This retelling adopts the perspective of Tommy Tester, a Black street musician whose access to the occult gets him the job of contacting ancient gods beneath New York City. Available for the first time in hardback with a haunting new cover.

Haunted townhouses, Lovecraftian gods, and hidden magic in the city that never sleeps.

ROSEMARY’S BABY IRA LEVIN (PEGASUS BOOKS)

The New York City real estate market is brutal, but how much would you put up with if it meant living in a dream apartment for starting a family? For Rosemary and Guy, it’s a literal deal with the devil—only she didn’t have any say in it. Ira Levin’s horror classic illuminates the monstrosities lurking in our neighbors’ homes, separated by just a thin wall.

HALF-RESURRECTION BLUES DANIEL JOSÉ OLDER (ACE)

The Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series captures the in-between existence of so many New Yorkers hustling and scraping by; Carlos Delacruz is not quite dead but not fully alive, hunting down malcontents trying to open up the entradas to the underworld. But exhuming a conspiracy among the New York Council of the Dead means confronting Carlos’ locked memories about his life before.

TROUBLE THE SAINTS

ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON (TOR BOOKS)

In an alternate-history Harlem at the start of World War II, Phyllis LeBlanc is a former assassin, legendary for her “saint’s hands” and the lives they took by knifepoint. But she can’t ignore the family juju, nor the dreams foretelling her return downtown, a.k.a. to the seductive, magical underworld of Manhattan… and Dev, the lover she left behind.

BOOKS OF BLOOD CLIVE BARKER (BERKLEY)

Clive Barker’s horror anthologies contain many a gory tale, but “The Midnight Meat Train” captures the eeriness of the subway in the dead of night when anything could happen—like a serial killer butchering commuters. Disillusioned office worker Leo Kaufman must decide whether to intervene because it’s not as simple as stopping serial killer Mahogany but becoming the city’s new Butcher….

SEVERANCE LING MA (FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX)

Ling Ma’s alternate-history pandemic novel recasts familiar New York City moments from 2011 onward through the lens of societal collapse: the Big Apple blogging peak; the Occupy Wall Street movement; and the peculiar dystopia of office workers continuing their jobs while their peers succumb to a fever that makes them compulsively repeat routines until they simply waste away.

THE WORLD WE MAKE

N.K. JEMISIN (ORBIT BOOKS)

N.K. Jemisin’s Great Cities duology (concluding on Nov. 1) is built on the foundation that every city in the world has only one human avatar—except for New York City, with five representatives for each of its unique boroughs. These avatars (young and old, rappers and shapeshifters) have learned to band together against the xenophobic, gentrifying Enemy, but this time they’ll need backup from the other Great Cities to protect their beloved home.

NEW YORK CHILLS

WHEN IT COMES TO SPOOKY SEASON, places like Salem, Sleepy Hollow, New Orleans, and Savannah normally get the most attention as Halloween Towns, but the Big Apple has its own caramel-coating of creepiness.

The rich history of New York—from the indigenous peoples to the European colonizers, to anyone who wants to “make it there” today—is a melting pot where people come to pursue dreams, giving it an undeniable charge. From a paranormal theory perspective, that lays the foundation for a lot of weirdness.

Let’s take a look at a few of the spots that form NYC’s paranormal personality.

Hans Holzer & the MorrisJumel Mansion Ghosts

65 JUMEL TERRACE (WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, MANHATTAN)

⊲ Built in 1765, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is the oldest house in Manhattan and is commonly referred to as one of the most haunted locations in NYC. It briefly served as George Washington’s HQ during the Revolutionary War before becoming home to Stephen Jumel and wife Eliza (who reportedly had an affair with, then later married, former Veep and Alexander Hamilton slayer, Aaron Burr). Rumors abounded that Eliza, or “Betsy,” arranged for Stephen’s death.

As a result, the house is supposedly haunted by the Jumels, Burr, a servant girl, and a soldier. In May 1964, The New York Times reported on a paranormal investigation on the 132nd anniversary of Stephen’s death, led by famed ghost hunter Hans Holzer.

In the article “2 Uptown ‘Ghosts’ Get Eviction Call,” the paper reported Holzer and medium Ethel Johnson Meyers communicated with the ghosts of Stephen—who accused his wife of burying him alive—and Eliza, who Holzer thought would continue to haunt the mansion.

John Lennon’s UFO Sighting

434 EAST 52ND STREET

(UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN)

⊲ During his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono, dubbed the “Lost Weekend,” the former Beatle dated assistant May Pang and split time

Litchfield Villa Demons

95 PROSPECT PARK WEST (PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN)

AARON SAGERS

PARANORMAL POP CULTURE EXPERT

between Los Angeles and New York City from summer 1973 through 1974.

On August 23, 1974, at 9 p.m., he and Pang said they saw a UFO from the penthouse apartment they shared.

Famously referenced in “Nobody Told Me,” from his final album Milk and Honey, one lyric reads: “There’s UFOs over New York and I ain’t too surprised.” The moment was so significant he wrote about it in his selfinterview for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine in 1974, describing it as only 100 feet away, hovering near another building and moving slowly, “with ordinary electric light bulbs flashing on and off round the bottom, one nonblinking red light on top.”

⊲ Though it is now the Brooklyn borough HQ for NYC’s Parks and Rec department, the Litchfield Villa, aka Grace Hill, is an Italianate mansion built in 1854 as a private residence for Edwin Clark Litchfield—and the site of a seance gone horribly wrong. According to lore, in 1864 Litchfield allowed Margaret Cahill to hold a seance for her son who died in a Civil War battle. The practice took a bad turn when lights flickered, paintings fell from walls, and gusts of wind blew through the mansion. Amongst a smell of sulfur, two demons with red tongues and glowing green eyes emerged. They flew through the ceiling to the second floor, where people report seeing them to this day. Believers thought the son had been doomed to Hell and that the seance opened a portal, allowing the creatures to enter. Curiously, four of the people who attended the seance died within the year, and one man, William Woodruff, vanished completely from historical records. The tale goes that the Devil pulled him into Hell.

Find more of Aaron’s adventures at DenofGeek.com/paranormal

Our regular columnist delves into the secrets of the Big Apple.

SAY

Quotes of the month from exclusive Den of Geek interviews.

“In the age of TikTok, it’s easier to [say] ‘this job sucks!’ with a 30-second video. It’d never occur to me to make a whole fucking narrative.”

— Kevin Smith on whether he’d make Clerks today if he were just starting out.

— Doctor Strange writer Michael Waldron on who he’d like to see on the Illuminati.

was raised on Monty Python. We used to set our clocks by it and repeat every sketch at school the next day, so that’s all sort of deep in my DNA.”

Dungeons & Dragons’ Hugh Grant on his comedy influences.

IMAGE CREDITS: NEW LINE CINEMA/PHOTOFEST (FRIDAY THE 13TH), RYAN EMBERLEY/GETTY IMAGES (STENBERG) “I wouldn’t have taken the role if they’d asked me to do it.”

— Sam Neill on passing up the chance to play James Bond.

“There was a time when I stopped before work at a gas station, and everyone in the station spoke my language, and I’ve never gotten that experience at work.”

— Amber Midthunder on filming in the Stoney Nakoda Nation for Prey.

“TOM CRUISE’S IRON MAN WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL.”

“T HERE’S A BUNC H OF GIRLS AND GU YS AND K NI VE S, AND EVERYONE’S

“I

K E UP, A ND I T HINK A

OUT STA R WA RS. I

R

RS BE F ORE

GO TO SLEEP. I RE A D S TAR

R S. I L

S

TO S TA R

P O D C A S TS. M Y L IFE H AS BEEN T

PLENTY OF NEW SUPERHEROES have joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Avengers: Endgame capped off three box officedominating movie phases and bid farewell to some of its key characters.

Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon

Knight have all brought something new to the MCU landscape in their respective Disney+ series, but now, spooky season is set to introduce a monster in their midst.

In Werewolf by Night, a secretive cabal of monster hunters will gather

to take part in a deadly competition for a powerful relic. Leading the cast of mysterious characters in the Halloween special is Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell, who, in the pages of Marvel Comics, became a werewolf when he turned 18,

ACCLAIMED COMPOSER MICHAEL GIACCHINO HELMS MARVEL STUDIOS’ BIGGEST EXPERIMENT YET WITH THIS SPOOKY HALLOWEEN OFFERING. BY KIRSTEN HOWARD

afflicted by a family curse. Also joining the fray is Outlander fan favorite Laura Donnelly, who plays Elsa Bloodstone, the daughter of a notorious monster hunter.

Followers of Marvel’s supernatural comics have waited a long time to see both these characters realized in live-action, but MCU maestro Kevin Feige was taken aback when he first approached acclaimed composer Michael Giacchino and asked him which project he’d be interested in directing, only for the longtime

Disney collaborator to immediately reply: “Werewolf by Night.”

“Kevin was like, ‘Really?’ Because it was off the beaten path in terms of where they were and what they were working on,” Giacchino tells us. “And I felt it was a fun, dark corner of the Marvel Universe that hadn’t been explored in terms of television or movies. But he loves that stuff too, so it all came together.”

When it came to adapting the comics for the screen, Giacchino’s influences were very clear from the first trailer for Werewolf by Night unleashed in September, one that instantly became a talking point for Marvel fans everywhere.

“My brother Anthony and I would always spend Saturdays watching old monster movies,” Giacchino explains.

“Whether it be Ray Harryhausen movies, the old Universal movies, or Hammer films, we didn’t care. I loved that feeling, so when I jumped into this, the idea was to create something that had the feeling of those films and to give that experience to some other kid that’s out in the world.”

Giacchino’s history scoring the likes of Star Trek, War for the Planet of the Apes, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy, and multiple Pixar movies also came in handy as he shifted to the director’s chair.

“Music has to go hand in hand with the story,” he says. “I think years of working with some of the best directors on the planet really helped me get a secondary education in filmmaking. I would go to the set [and] I loved watching J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird, Matt Reeves, and Jon Watts work, all of these great directors. I felt very prepared. There are a lot of similarities between music and filmmaking. I regularly have to wrangle 150 to 200 people to get a score put together. Here, the crew is your orchestra.”

With just 12 days to shoot Werewolf by Night, Giacchino threw himself into this fast-paced filmmaking environment with the nostalgic spirit of yesteryear. “I love that the Universal horror movies

were just like, ‘Okay, here’s some money. Go make a movie; you’ve got two weeks.’ There’s something really fun about that and challenging and exhilarating, so we leaned into that whenever and wherever we could.”

Giacchino was also eager to learn as many tricks of the trade as possible on his first major directing gig. His enthusiasm is infectious, and his eyes light up when he talks about sampling different jobs on the set. “I’m a filmmaking geek,” he says. “I wanted to operate the Steadicam. I wanted to do the boom mic. I tried focus-pulling, even pushing the dolly. It helps you think about it before you ask somebody for something because you have a slight understanding of what it is they have to do.”

But it wasn’t all geeking out on set for Giacchino. “Doing this stuff is exhausting, and it’s hard. You’re doing long hours. Sometimes we were out filming till six in the morning. It’s a marathon, something you almost need to train for in order to survive because there aren’t a lot of breaks. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

The nature of the beast is key to the project itself. Fans were surprised by the classic genre vibes in the trailer, but Disney isn’t exactly known for its horror output, so Giacchino looked to the less explicit films that creeped him out when he was younger—like King Kong, The Wolf Man, and Poltergeist—for inspiration when creating Werewolf by Night

THERE ARE A LOT OF SIMILARITIES BETWEEN MUSIC AND FILMMAKING. I REGULARLY HAVE TO WRANGLE 150 TO 200 PEOPLE TO GET A SCORE PUT TOGETHER. HERE, THE CREW IS YOUR ORCHESTRA.”

MICHAEL GIACCHINO

for a more family-orientated audience. “I feel like the world has gone into this thing where all the scary stuff has gotten too sadistic,” he says. “And we’ve lost the heart of it as well. It was important to me that this has a real heart to it, that it’s not just blood and guts, that it actually has a real moral center.”

Giacchino hopes that this Werewolf by Night tale will entertain us (“Kevin and I would always say, ‘It’s a fun horror movie!’”), but it’s clear that the subject matter resonates deeply with him. “These hunters believe monsters should just be eliminated, almost like stepping on an ant. They don’t want to connect with them or understand them. There are people like that in our own lovely world who think it’s all about them and what they believe, and everyone else can go stuff it.”

He thinks this attitude has become much more prevalent in recent years, but that monster movies can put those struggling with all-too-human problems in the spotlight. “People that have afflictions, any number of true human issues that any one of us could have, whether it be mental illness, whether it be alcoholism, whether it be depression. Anything that makes you feel alienated or less than, that’s what monsters represent. They’re constantly struggling to be

seen, to be heard, to be accepted. Let’s look into their souls and see what it’s really like to walk in their shoes.”

Giacchino’s enthusiasm for his monsters and attention to detail also extended to Werewolf by Night’s visual aesthetic, and the crew worked hard to give it the kind of old-school look associated with classic monster yarns—whether that be making sure it worked in black and white or embracing traditional effects.

“A lot of it is practical effects that we did in-camera,” Giacchino confirms. “Crazy things we thought we’d have to end up adjusting but then never did because it was great as it was. Most of the makeup was practical, and most of the monsters were. We only have one monster where we leaned into CG, otherwise it would’ve been impossible to do, but we really wanted to honor the tradition of practical effects.”

Also important to Giacchino was that Werewolf by Night be filmed on a traditional set. After immersive LED soundstage The Volume was created for the first season of The Mandalorian, the seamless 360-degree technology has increased in popularity behind the scenes at Disney, with director Taika Waititi even embracing it for his recent Marvel Thor sequel, Love and Thunder. “I didn’t want to use

The Volume, which is great for certain things, but for this it felt very important that it be real. Everyone is in costumes. If they have a scene with a monster, that monster should be there in front of them. They should be able to react to it, look at it, and talk to it. Not just have a tennis ball on a stick.”

After Werewolf by Night, Giacchino isn’t sure what will happen next. For the first time in 20 years, his diary is pretty much clear. “I would love to make more things for Marvel. These are characters that I have loved for so long, and I would love the opportunity to do more with them. This is a big experiment for us. Everyone has ideas, but nothing has been figured out yet.”

One thing seems certain: that he’ll stay with the people in the industry he’s grown close to, and the franchises he loves.

“Looking back at all the films and everything I’ve worked on, what’s most astonishing is that so many of them are things that I was obsessed with as a kid, whether it be Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, or Star Wars,” he muses. “I guess I’m never going to grow up.”

Werewolf by Night will be streaming on Disney+ from Oct. 7.

MONSTROUS MARVELS!

Sure, Werewolf by Night is a Marvel Studios Halloween special with deep roots in the pages of some relatively obscure comics stories, but Marvel Comics is cooking up some spooky season fun of its own on the page in October. Here are four frightful picks to get you in the mood for the season…

TOMB OF DRACULA #1 FACSIMILE EDITION

Marvel’s greatest horror comic, and one of the best horror comics of all time, has its first issue from 1972 reprinted in full color, complete with the original, cool retro ads.

ON SALE: OCT. 5

BLOODSTONE & THE LEGION OF MONSTERS

Wondering where Werewolf by Night’s Elsa and Ulysses Bloodstone got their start?

How about 304 pages of 1970s Marvel horror all in one handy volume. Features stories with ol’ wolfie himself, the Living Mummy, Morbius, and more.

ON SALE: OCT. 5

CRYPT OF SHADOWS #1

An all-star lineup of writers and artists team up for this 56-page anthology comic that takes readers “into the darkness that lurks in the hidden corners” of the Marvel Universe. Hey, we’ll buy anything with the word “crypt” in the title.

ON SALE: OCT. 19

MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1

Writer Jed Mackay continues his acclaimed Moon Knight run with a story that reunites Moonie with Werewolf by Night: a momentous occasion since Moonie’s first appearance came in Werewolf by Night’s title back in 1975. Federico Sabbatini does the art.

ON SALE: OCT. 26

IF YOU AREN’T SURE WHAT a Cenobite is, David Bruckner, director of the new Hellraiser, has the answer: “It’s an interdimensional BDSM thing that shoots chains at you from an ancient labyrinth.” It sounds outlandish but is actually astonishingly accurate.

The original Hellraiser (1987), written and directed by Clive Barker, is forever a classic horror hall-of-famer. It centers around a mysterious puzzle box that, when used, summons the Cenobites —a sadistic group of hell dwellers who take pleasure in torturing their unfortunate summoner for eternity. This new Hellraiser will be the eleventh installment of the franchise. “A lot of things are going to hit just a little bit different,” says Bruckner. “But you’ll find that most of what you love about Hellraiser is there in the movie, and sometimes in slightly different ways.”

While Bruckner can’t give too much away, there were a few details he could share. “Hellraiser is one of the great practical effects efforts,” he says. “We knew that we had to be true to the practical roots in every way possible.” For fans of the franchise, this means you can look forward to the visceral and realistic gore you’ve come to expect.

The puzzle box, which is also known as the LeMarchand or Lament Configuration, will, of course, be returning to kick off all the hellish events, but not necessarily as we know it. “We have a lot of surprises in store where the box is concerned,” says Bruckner. “I think the audience is going to see the box do things

DIRECTOR DAVID BRUCKNER TELLS US ABOUT WHAT HORRORS WE CAN EXPECT FROM THE NEW HELLRAISER AND WHY HE LOVES THE GENRE. BY ISAURA BARBÉ-BROWN

that they’ve never seen before.”

The box will, naturally, still raise up demonic beings, although, Bruckner notes, “every Hellraiser movie should have a collection of brand-new Cenobites.”

However, one familiar needle-filled face will be returning. This time around, the leader of the demonic sect, Pinhead, is played by Jamie Clayton. “Jamie scared the hell out of me,” Bruckner jokes about his lead actress. “Jamie always had a handle on it. She was always doing something with it that I would just come back to over and over again.”

With practical effects comes prosthetics, which can be awkward at the best of times and torturous at the worst, but Clayton was up to the challenge. “She was truly fearless. Those aren’t easy shoes to fill,” says Bruckner. “In that space, she was as strong and confident as anyone could imagine.”

Pictures of Clayton as the infamous Pinhead have been released (see right), and suffice to say, they are striking. According to Bruckner, everyone on set felt the same upon seeing her. “You could hear a hush fall over the crew because it was like the hell priest is here, behold! She definitely conducted the character with a sense of majesty.”

With features The Ritual (2017) and The Night House (2020) under his belt, Bruckner has already become an exciting director to watch, and it looks like horror is where his heart is. “Horror is the only genre in film where it is still permitted to be a bit surreal,” he says. “Reality is agreed upon in a different way.

There’s a freedom to it, and you can get weird.”

On the idea of taking a stab at other horror franchises, Bruckner is humble: “I dare not say. I think I have to respect the movie gods.”

New franchises or not, Bruckner’s future will certainly contain horror as well as continued collaboration with writers Luke Piotrowski and Ben Collins. Could more Hellraiser films be on the way? “Should the fans respond to this, should there be a desire to go further with it? I would be absolutely honored.”

Hellraiser premiers on Hulu on Oct. 7.

MEET THE NEW PINHEAD

Jamie Clayton becomes the Cenobite leader.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH A DARK AND ICONIC ROLE LIKE PINHEAD?

I’ll be brutally honest: I started with therapy. I can go to these dark places, but also I was terrified.

HOW WAS IT PHYSICALLY TURNING INTO PINHEAD?

The life cast was awful! They told me, “This is the worst of it,” and I was like, “Oh, okay.” [They] were lying. I had the opportunity to get into the makeup twice completely before my first night of filming, [which made] my first night of filming really easy.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE FILM?

This is a reimagining. It’s not a continuation. It’s just a brand-new imagining of this world, these characters, and this box, this game, this puzzle.

ARE THERE GOOD SCARES IN THIS FILM?

I saw it a week ago. [I was] terrified. I was like, “Oh my God, they did that thing.” It’s disgusting. It’s very good. We got an R for a reason.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH DAVID BRUCKNER?

David is incredible. I get emotional when I talk about David because he’s so good. He’s really, honestly, one of the good ones.

DID YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING HORROR BEFORE THIS?

I want the opportunity to play all different kinds of parts. Being a trans woman, being queer, I’ve go-go danced, I’ve DJ’d, I’ve hostessed, I’ve waitressed, I’ve been a makeup artist. I like the opportunity to do different things.

WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE HORROR SO MUCH?

I don’t know. I mean, I love it. I love escaping into other worlds, and oh my God, you know what it is? I think it makes us realize that our lives really aren’t that bad.

NIKYATU JUSU TALKS US THROUGH HER STYLISH AND EMOTIONAL DEBUT HORROR FEATURE. BY ISAURA BARBÉ-BROWN

“I LOVE HORROR. I LOVE elevated horror. I love psychological horror. I love an unreliable protagonist.” Nikyatu Jusu’s love of horror is undeniable, evidenced in her short film Suicide by Sunlight (2018) and now even more so in her debut feature, Nanny (2022).

“I usually start every project with imagery. And as I’ve said many times, the springboard is my mother’s story, loosely—and I’m just fiercely protective of my mother,” Jusu explains about the entry point for this script and her personal connection to the story of Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese immigrant in New York and the nanny for the child of an affluent white family.

On the surface, the setup seems workaday, mundane even, but that’s the point—Jusu enjoys exploring horror in the everyday.

“The mundane is horrific for so many of us,” she says. “I think in real life, you have a day where you’re taking the train to work, and you’re having an existential crisis about your entire life…. We’re constantly barraged with the precarity of our existence.” This is especially true

for Aisha, who is working a cash-inhand job in the hopes she can save enough to bring her son to the US.

Aisha’s employer Amy (Michelle Monaghan) is emotional, unhappy, and controlling, and while she demands more and more of Aisha, she gets slower at paying what is owed. “You have to perform the decorum and you have to be graceful because you don’t want to come across as the angry Black woman in this space,” Jusu says. For certain

people in America, in this instance, Black people, particularly Black women, there is horror that has to be navigated at all times. “I’m always thinking about the ways that Black women have to bite our tongues and swallow indignities and the toll that it takes on our spirits and our health and our bodies.”

The more time Aisha spends in the sleek New York apartment, the more darkness seems to surround her. Nightmares and visions become

a regular occurrence and often feature creeping spiders and deep, cold water.

“I think water is very prevalent in my work and in the work of women I admire,” Jusu says. “Toni Morrison talks about water all the time in her work. She said water has perfect memory, and I just think that’s so profound based on our histories.”

Her connection to the power and transformative properties of water and Jusu’s desire to show culturally significant supernatural elements is what led to the inclusion of figures like Mami Wata, an “organic mermaid for our culture” and water spirit that is known throughout the African diaspora, and Anansi, the trickster spider character of parables, from similar origins. Aisha feels she is being haunted by both.

“I love chaos agents, and I love the idea of just burning shit down and fighting oppression with very rebellious means,” says Jusu, referring to the ways they upend Aisha’s life. To Aisha, their presence feels like a threat, but once she starts dating Malik (Sinqua Walls), his clairvoyant grandmother Kathleen

(Leslie Uggams) suggests that these hauntings may, in fact, be warnings.

The crossover of cultural stories, myths, and legends is expertly done. “I grew up in African diasporic households—my parents had parties all the time where we had people from Trinidad and Liberia and from all over the place, Black Americans,” Jusu says. “It was very organic for me to write the ways that we intersect in America, just through our Blackness.”

Aisha meets several Black women throughout her journey who are purposefully from across the diaspora, and although their stories may be different from Aisha’s, they recognize they are more similar than not. This feeling of community, even in a foreign land, exists in stark contrast to the often uncomfortable, eventually unbearable, time Aisha spends at her job.

Jusu is always keen to work with Black actresses and had been hoping to work with Diop for a while. “I saw a lot of Aishas,” notes Jusu. “But I was always rooting for Anna to kill her audition. And she really did.”

Diop brings complexity to what could be a two-dimensional

character—Aisha is just as good at playing made-up games with Rose as she is at charming Malik and eventually fighting her demons. “Once I got her, it was a matter of putting the other pieces of the puzzle together,” Jusu says.

One of those key pieces is Monaghan, whose emotional and controlling Amy bounces erratically between being Aisha’s friend, employer, and rival. So much so that a couple of the times she appears onscreen unexpectedly work as little jump scares.

Jusu took around eight years to write the script for Nanny, with the help of mentors such as Kasi Lemmons, Karyn Kusama, and Michael Arndt. Jusu’s next project, which she has already started working on, will be in collaboration with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Universal, and Jusu promises more horror that will be made “with [her] style of social resonance [and] a Black woman protagonist.”

Nanny will be available on Prime Video from Dec. 16.

This is the first acting role for Posy Taylor who plays the troubled Natalie.

DEMONS PLAGUE A YOUNG NUN IN THIS HORROR MOVIE FROM THE LAST EXORCISM DIRECTOR.

IT TURNS OUT THAT DANIEL Stamm’s 2010 film The Last Exorcism wasn’t the last after all. Twelve years after the release of the movie that put the German director on the horror map, he is returning to the subgenre for another possession movie. But in some ways, the two films couldn’t be more different. While The Last Exorcism played heavily on the ambiguity of whether the central character was afflicted or faking it, Prey for the Devil cuts right to the chase.

Christian Navarro as Father Dante and Nicholas Ralph as Father Raymond have a lot on their plate.

“I love that, because in most movies you have to do the half an hour of doubt, and everybody is sitting there going, ‘No, we know we’re in an exorcism movie. It’s probably a demon,’” laughs Stamm.

Spoilers: it’s a demon. We’re chatting about what brought him back to the genre, and he explains it comes with expectations which are a blessing and a curse. “It is a very narrow genre on one hand because you owe set pieces to the audience. What we have to do is find a fresh angle.”

Prey for the Devil’s angle comes via its protagonist. The film tells the story of Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers), a young nun who has had dealings with demons in the past. Housed at a secret exorcism school, Ann is only allowed to carry out duties as a nurse—women aren’t allowed to perform exorcisms. But when a young girl (Posy Taylor) starts to display a pattern of disturbing behavior, Ann realizes it’s her calling to help.

“You get so many movies with female protagonists, and it’s such a buzzword, the ‘strong female protagonist,’” says Stamm. “How do we earn the label of the strong female protagonist in a way that it’s not interchangeable? It couldn’t be a male because the story is how she has to go up against the demon, but first, she has to fight the patriarchy, and she has to fight the church for the right to be allowed to fight a demon.”

And it turns out this possession is personal and entwined with Ann’s dark past. The setup gave Stamm the opportunity to include plenty of jolts and scares—there are multiple exorcisms in the movie—and

Stamm wanted to approach these in a victim-centric way. He describes the film’s exorcism contortion scenes as like “two pilots fighting over the steering wheel.”

“In theory, if you stopped the actors and said, ‘Tell me who is at the steering wheel right now,’ they should be able to tell you, ‘My right hand is the demon, but my left hand is the victim.’” Invisible antagonists, as Stamm explains, are a lot of fun because, unlike, say, serial killers, you can’t just lop their heads off. The film is very much a character piece and an emotional journey, with Ann’s approach being to care for and understand the host rather than just screaming Biblical verses at the demon (“let us just keep the Latin to an absolute minimum,” Stamm laughs). While the bones of the story are based on real things (“We are now in an age where there are more demonic possessions reported than ever before in history,” the director reminds us), Stamm’s decision to remove ambiguity allows other interpretations.

“It allows you to create this metaphor for so much stuff,” he says. “It’s terrorism. It’s disease. It’s all this stuff that corrupts a body, which I think is so terrifying for us because losing control is a terrifying thought.”

Prey for the Devil opens in theaters on Oct. 28.

NUN MORE BRAVE

Meet Jacqueline Byers’ Sister Ann.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE SISTER ANN?

She is a nurse in her own way. I think that she is a healer, and I think that her healing comes from her own trauma. She’s extremely determined to make sure other people don’t experience the same trauma that she went through.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO JUMP INTO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

I think when you’re a little afraid of the material, that, to me, is always a bit of a good sign. And I love children. Horror movies involving children have always been the scariest to me. I think protecting children is probably something that lies very deep in me, Jackie, and also in Ann.

YOU SAY YOU WERE SLIGHTLY AFRAID OF THE MATERIAL. CAN YOU DELVE INTO THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE?

The concept of guilt and shame and it attacking someone’s psyche. I think the mind is kind of like the depths of the ocean—we know nothing about it. Controlling our own thoughts can seem impossible at times. Spending a month and a half having to go to places where my shame and guilt lived for me was daunting. I think it’s a little bit like running a marathon where you don’t really enjoy doing it all the time, but at the end, there’s a good reward.

IT’S A VERY PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AS WELL AS AN EMOTIONAL ONE...

That was some of the most fun I had. We shot that right at the end. After the first three weeks, it was pretty emotionally taxing, and then the last week, it was nice to just let go of all of the tension. I have a figure skating background, I competed heavily when I was very young, so it was also nice just to be able to use that to my advantage!

THE FILMMAKERS BEHIND THE FIRST SLASHER MOVIE ABOUT A BLACK SERIAL KILLER DISCUSS BRINGING BACK “HOOD HORROR.”

TO THIS DAY, FILMMAKER BILL

Posley will not say “Candyman” five times while looking in the mirror. But he will write him a letter.

It sounds strange, but that turned out to be the exact way to summon the attention of a cinematic legend like Candyman actor Tony Todd and to request that he consider a pivotal role in Posley’s new slasher movie and directorial debut, Bitch Ass

“We were looking for somebody to be our Vincent Price, this cryptkeeper type, intro-ing the movie,” Posley says. Eventually, the Bitch Ass writer-director and his collaborators came around to the idea of reaching out to the statesman of the type of Black horror they aimed to resurrect; the only thing was that Todd would only accept queries by mail—and

return with a call of his own. That call eventually came when Posley was on another job. Standing in an Arkansan field during the highest heat of the day, the filmmaker’s phone rang, and a familiar voice came on the other end: “Hello, Mr. Posley,” Todd said.

Thinking about it even years later, the director smiles. “Chills, I’ve got them now going down my spine. I just couldn’t believe it.”

For Posley, getting Todd to emcee his throwback to ’90s Black horror remains poignant since he grew up

in that decade, watching with his brother all the horror movies they probably weren’t supposed to see: The People Under the Stairs (1991), Tales from the Hood (1995), Bones (2001), and of course, Candyman (1992). The Posley brothers called these movies “hood horror.” Yet, in each case, the terror that attacked Black neighborhoods was supernatural in nature. And then, eventually, it went away from the multiplex entirely. It was while discussing this drought as an adult with writing partner Jonathan

THERE WAS CANDYMAN, THERE WAS BONES, BUT THERE WAS NEVER A JASON OR A MICHAEL MYERS OR A GHOSTFACE OR A JIGSAW THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY OR WAS A PERSON OF COLOR. ”

Colomb that Posley realized there was territory not yet explored: the first Black serial killer in a slasher movie.

“There was Candyman, there was Bones,” Posley explains, “but there was never a Jason or a Michael Myers or a Ghostface or a Jigsaw that took place in the Black community or was a person of color.” There was never someone like Bitch Ass.

Posley appears energized from correcting this issue with Bitch Ass, which won the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival. The film stars Tunde Laleye as the titular killer, a seeming monster behind a mask who eviscerates victims via cruel games. However, Laleye is quick to note that there’s more to the character than meets the eye.

“Bitch Ass is about a kid who was picked on in high school, he got beat up by a group of kids as an initiation into a gang, and 20 years later, he comes back for vengeance,” says Laleye. “Characters like this, or who have gone through difficulties, are born when bad things are done to them.”

Still, as he later says with perhaps a mischievous sense of pride and gratitude: “I don’t take it for granted to be in this position, to set off the next generation of Candyman It’s incredible.”

Bitch Ass opens in theaters on Oct. 14.

CAN THIS REALLY BE MICHAEL MYERS’ FINAL NIGHT OUT?

WHEN WE LAST SAW LAURIE Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) at the end of 2021’s Halloween Kills, she was still in the hospital bed where she spent most of the movie after being injured, largely sidelined while her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), and the townspeople of Haddonfield took on Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) themselves, with unfortunate results.

While director David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween, a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher milestone, dispensed with any connection to the rest of the franchise, streamlined the narrative, and delivered a powerful, terrifying tale of confronting trauma, its follow-up Halloween Kills plunged into the raging waters of fan service and nearly drowned itself in plot diversions.

Green now has the chance to course-correct with Halloween Ends, which—judging from what we’ve seen via trailers—takes the story back to its root conflict between Laurie and Michael. The official boilerplate for the film

promises that “only one of them will survive.”

Halloween Ends kicks off four years after the last movie, with Michael having disappeared and Laurie living with Allyson and writing a memoir. But a seemingly unrelated tragedy—the death of a young boy, allegedly at the hands of his babysitter—sets a chain of events in motion that will bring Laurie and The Shape face-to-mask one final time.

Or will it? This has been touted as the end of the Halloween story, but we’ve heard that one too many times before. It certainly seems like it will provide a grand finale to Laurie and Michael’s decades-long dance of death, but not even lukewarm box office results can keep an almost supernaturally-durable serial killer down (this one, like Kills, is opening in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service at the same time, further muddying the waters).

Halloween Ends? We’ll believe it when we see it.

Halloween Ends opens in theaters on Oct. 14

THE BEST OF THE LAST 15 YEARS

The creepiest, spookiest, most thrilling chillers since Den of Geek launched.

15. Lake Mungo

(2008)

This Australian curio from director Joel Anderson is a strange mockumentary about a girl who drowned in a dam and the implications on her family after. The movie shares traits with Twin Peaks but comes with an enormous dose of pathos, too. Alice Palmer is a troubled youngster with dark secrets who confesses to a psychic, “I feel like something bad is going to happen to me. I feel like something bad has happened to me, it hasn’t reached me yet, but it’s on its way. And it’s getting closer.” It has. It is. And when you see what Alice has seen, it’s unbearable.

14. Jennifer’s Body

(2009)

13. The Lighthouse

(2019)

Girlfight director Karyn Kusama waded into Jennifer’s Body with the gloves off back in 2009, making a uniquely feminist cult movie in the horror genre as a result. This underrated gem always had its fans, but it’s been appreciated with more clarity in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Indeed, the core story is close to the bone. It kicks off with a group of men thoughtlessly sacrificing a young woman to further their own careers, and the carnage that follows cuts down to the marrow as the abused Jennifer (Megan Fox) utilizes a ravenous darkness inside to maintain her mental and physical health. Essential stuff.

There are some who would say that Robert Eggers’ sophomore effort is not a true horror movie. But we say those folks have lost their beans. The Lighthouse is a bizarre, claustrophobic, and ultimately maddening dip into nautical terror. Pulling as much from Lovecraft as 19th century sailor superstitions, Eggers creates a sea-soaked fever dream of toxic masculinity. He also provides a great two-hander opportunity for Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, who call down the fury of Poseidon in performances that will sweep you away into the deep black. — DAVID CROW

12. THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020)

Leigh Whannell’s update of the classic H.G. Wells story makes some extremely shrewd choices. This isn’t a film about a deranged scientist who invents a method of making himself invisible; it’s about his wife. This is a story about domestic abuse, with Elizabeth Moss giving an impressive central performance as the gaslit spouse who is told her husband has taken his own life. But she knows better. This is a tense cat-and-mouser, where the cat is invisible, and no one believes the mouse: a central scene in a restaurant is deeply shocking and absolute nightmare fodder. Clever stuff.

— RF

11. A Quiet Place (2018)

John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place set a new standard in science fiction horror but did it quietly. We don’t know where the invading aliens came from or why they are attacking, only that they are blind and hunt by sound. The Abbott family has learned to communicate nonverbally, aided by deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds). Emily Blunt’s Evelyn Abbott is pregnant. Babies cry. The silence is almost deafening in the 90-minute feature, which only has about five minutes of dialogue. The first words are spoken 40 minutes in, forcing the audience to sharpen its focus. This makes for pure motion picture storytelling. It’s enough to make you scream.

10. Midsommar (2019)

A horror movie that takes place almost entirely in bright daylight sounds like a gimmick—but this is the second movie from Hereditary director Ari Aster: it’s wall-to-wall trauma. Unlike Hereditary, though, Midsommar does at least have a vein of humor, as recently bereaved Dani (Florence Pugh) takes a trip with her douchebag boyfriend (Jack Reynor) and his friends to a remote Swedish village to join in their mid-summer celebrations. With Wicker Man undertones, Aster’s signature graphic deaths, and storming performances from the whole cast, this is a nightmarish psychedelic trip with one of the most delicious endings in recent memory. — RF

7. US (2019)

Though Us doesn’t quite have the clout of Jordan Peele’s debut Get Out, it definitely shows the filmmaker developing his visual style. This tale of doppelgängers terrorizing a family on vacation is distinctive and disturbing, with astonishing double performances from the main cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and Evan Alex. A violent home invasion chiller with a major twist, for the first two acts at least, Us is one of the most unsettling films of the last decade and a half. Though the very end leaves more questions than answers, the horrifying imagery will stick with you longer than any vagaries.

— RF

IMAGE

9. The Babadook (2014)

The stunning directorial debut of Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent rocked both audiences and the horror community when it arrived in 2014, arguably becoming one of the films that ushered in the still-ongoing age of what has come to be called “elevated horror.” Essie Davis gives a heartbreaking performance as a young widowed mother who is either facing a supernatural entity in her home or a psychological breakdown—or perhaps both. The film sustains a mood throughout that is both genuinely terrifying and also quite moving, with the entity, in the best tradition of great horror tales, becoming a powerful metaphor for unexpressed grief — DK

8. The Conjuring (2013)

Sometimes a bump in the night is used subtly by a filmmaker: it’s an anomaly, an inexplicable mystery in the dark. And sometimes, a director just wants to make you jump for the umpteenth time as their rollercoaster accelerates toward the next drop. James Wan is the latter type of storyteller, and his thrill ride achieved peak form in The Conjuring, a spectacle that’s determined to leave you smiling as much as shrieking. What makes the movie a cut above is the effort Wan and stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga put into turning their paranormal investigators into sentimental superheroes. It’s the best haunted house show in town and strangely endearing. — DC

6. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)

People can’t leave this 2008 Swedish horror picture alone. Since its release, there’s been an American remake, a stage production, and, this October, a 10-part Showtime TV series. Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel is uniquely atmospheric, with real beauty and unforgettable sequences. (The swimming pool revenge scene in the trailer for Netflix’s Wednesday Addams series is surely an homage.) Set in the 1980s, it’s a singular love story between a young boy and a strange girl who, as she says, is… not a girl. Poetic and dark, with captivating performances from its leads, the continuing obsession is no wonder. LOUISA MELLOR

5. T HE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2011)

Before superhero movies borrowed (and exhausted) their house style, writers like Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s meta-textual humor felt transgressive and exciting. Take The Cabin in the Woods, for example. This self-aware chiller is both a sincere, R-rated love letter to its genre and a smirking deconstruction of it. This effect is achieved by the movie placing just about every gory horror trope of the last 50 years into a blender and mixing until there’s red paste dripping off your walls.

It should be a mess, and yet, surprisingly, it’s a marvel, particularly whenever Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford are on hand to snark about the latest cliché we’re indulging yet again.

4. It Follows (2014)

We all know the terror of being followed, either in a dream or in real life, but trying to capture that tension onscreen is a tricky process. It Follows succeeds throughout, thanks to a low-fi approach, an ingenious conceit, and wide-angle lenses to spare.

3. The Witch (2015)

Robert Eggers’ feature debut as a writer-director remains one of the finest horror films of this or any other decade: a slow-burning and frightening look at religious conviction, humanity’s relationship with nature, and the seductive and/ or sinister power of both.

2. Hereditary (2018)

Though David Robert Mitchell’s sophomore movie plays with genre tropes, it doesn’t take them to a meta level, allowing its characters to organically address a threat that can be interpreted in different ways. After the credits roll, the film lingers in a place beyond the reach of comprehension. Like the entity at its center, It Follows follows you forever, each of us unable to escape our own deadly fate.

—

KH

In the 1630s, a rigid Puritan patriarch and his family, despite being estranged from their community, set about living as piously as possible—but the vast forest on the edge of their land has other ideas. The atmosphere, period details, and setting are brilliantly realized, while the eponymous monster is reinvented as a primal force almost beyond human understanding.

—

Writer-director Ari Aster arrived on the horror scene like a Stage 4 Linda Blair possession when Hereditary premiered at Sundance in 2018. Technically a poignant and moving allegory about grief and how the things we don’t say fester, Hereditary was also the most wretchedly disturbing misery anyone had seen in years.

DK

The story of a family initially dealing with the loss of a matriarch, this is a slow-moving descent into the deepest, dankest of hells. For here is the inferno that nearly every member of the Graham clan thinks they deserve on some level, none more than Toni Collette’s Annie. It’s a career-best performance that lingers.

— DC

1. Get Out (2017)

Writer-director Jordan Peele’s first film is an expertly crafted satire about the illusion of safety. It’s a remarkable debut that makes its point with wit and indelible imagery. What point? That overt racism isn’t the only danger to Black people; white liberals can also start the theme from Jaws playing in the mind of a Black man, and for good reason. What imagery? A hypnotically revolving teaspoon, a dead deer, “the Sunken Place”…

Even the title has layers. Get Out isn’t just what movie theater audiences shout at horror films; it’s what the inner voice says when you know how unsafe you are despite being told that everything’s fine. That’s what Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) keeps being assured of on his first visit with his white girlfriend’s parents. As Chris discovers, with sickening tension, things are far from fine. An award-winning, financial and critical success for Blumhouse Productions, Get Out didn’t just make bank—it made history.

FIRST VIDEO GAME CHEAT CODE

“XYZZY”

FIRST FEMALE PROTAGONIST

BILLIE SUE

FIRST ARCADE VIDEO GAME

EVERY TRADITION HAS TO START SOMEWHERE. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST FASCINATING FIRSTS IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY. BY MATTHEW BYRD COMPUTER SPACE

While projects like 1954’s Auto Test (an interactive driving instructor that was also used for entertainment) experimented with basic arcade video game concepts,

arcade gaming as we know it didn’t really take off until the 1970s.

It started with 1971’s Computer Space, which put players in control of a spaceship and asked them to shoot down incoming flying saucers. Its gameplay was as simple as could be, but everything about Computer Space’s technology and “insertquarter-to-play” commercial release would soon form the foundation of the arcade video game industry.

But of course, Computer Space co-creator Nolan Bushnell’s next major project, 1972’s Pong, would end up being far more successful.

The first game to star a named and playable female character was 1982’s Wabbit for the Atari 2600. That unique title featured a farmer named Billie Sue, who was tasked with defending crops from rabbits. Interestingly, Wabbit was also an early example of a game designed by a woman (Vietnamese programmer Van Mai, then Van Tran). Unfortunately, because she was mistakenly identified as Ban Tran for quite some time (and left the gaming industry shortly after the release of Wabbit ), her contribution to the industry was nearly forgotten.

FIRST SECRET CHARACTER

You have to go all the way back to 1977’s Colossal Cave Adventure to find the very first cheat code. In that text-based adventure title, players are able to type the phrase “xyzzy” at a certain point in order to skip a large section of the game. Interestingly, designer Will Crowther implemented the “xyzzy” command at the request of his sister, who was helping him test the game. Crowther left it in the final game as he figured that there were probably “a lot of impatient people out there who would appreciate a shortcut.”

REPTILE

Many modern developers use the idea of a secret character to not only reward curious gamers, but to entice them as well. As popular as that idea is, it’s not nearly as old as you might think.

The first documented secret character in video game history was Reptile,

the green-suited ninja from the controversial 1992 fighter Mortal Kombat. The process of unlocking that hidden miniboss was so convoluted that many players didn’t actually believe he existed. Even as an urban legend, Reptile contributed to Mortal Kombat ’s powerful cultural mystique.

1981

FROGS

FIRST VIDEO GAME SHOWN IN A MOVIE

COMPUTER SPACE

Video games are an extremely common sight in most modern movies. Even Avengers: Endgame included a scene with characters playing Fortnite While video games weren’t commonly featured in movies until the 1980s, a few ’70s movies did acknowledge gaming’s growing cultural

presence. In fact, the first video game to ever appear in a movie was the 1971 arcade game Computer Space, which made its big-screen debut in 1973’s Soylent Green. Computer Space’s futuristic cabinet design fit perfectly into Soylent Green’s vision of that far-off year, 2022.

FIRST VIDEO GAME POWER-UP

POWER PELLETS

Super Mario Bros.’ mushrooms arguably elevated the power-up concept, but the first game to ever let you consume an item for an immediate performance boost was actually a different ’80s classic. Pac-Man’s Power Pellets are generally considered to be the first true video game power-ups. Those powerful pills allowed Pac-Man to turn the tables on his ghostly pursuers and consume them for bonus points. Pac-Man’s developers even had to use one of the earliest video game cutscenes to show players what those items actually did.

FIRST VIDEO GAME THAT LET YOU JUMP

The now ubiquitous Mario may have popularized jumping in video games by virtue of his debut in 1981’s Donkey Kong (where he was initially known as “Jumpman”), but the first video game that let a playable character jump whenever they wanted predates that game by a few years. Yes, the first game

that let you do as Van Halen asks and simply “jump” seems to be the 1978 arcade game, Frogs This incredibly simple game put players in control of an amphibian hero who was tasked with jumping into the air in order to catch flies. It wasn’t much, but in its own way, it was an innovator.

FIRST 3D FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER GAME

MAZE WAR

First-person shooters are one of gaming’s biggest blockbuster genres. While the mainstream rise of the FPS can easily be traced back to the popularity of 1993’s Doom, the concept is actually much older

than that. In 1973, Maze War allowed players to navigate their way through a pseudo-3D environment from a first-person perspective. The technology was impressive, but Maze War ’s gameplay (which allowed players to hunt down eyeball-shaped avatars of each other over networked computers) was ahead of its time. In a way, Maze War imagined the online multiplayer deathmatch concept that would change the industry forever.

MISSILE

The joystick is so much more than an instantly recognizable part of video game history. It was the input device that made video games both more accessible and, gradually, more complicated. It’s also the preferred way to control certain modern games. While video game pioneer Ralph H. Baer is credited with creating the basic concept, the first commercial game to utilize what we now consider to be a joystick was Sega’s 1969 arcade title, Missile That electro-mechanical game asked players to use the built-in joystick to both fire their missiles at enemies and control the paths of the projectiles.

FIRST VIDEO GAME SEQUEL

PONG DOUBLES

Finding the first video game sequel is surprisingly tough. These days sequels are often more successful (and better) than their predecessors. there was a time video game sequels just weren’t a big deal. As such, records of the earliest sequels are spotty, at best. However, this honor seemingly belongs to 1973’s Pong Doubles a four-player version of 1972’s Pong. Doubles created as a way for the Pong developers to stay ahead of the many imitators they were certain would follow. Interestingly, Doubles was also the first four-player video game.

1976

FIRST HORROR GAME

While 1972’s Haunted House for the Magnavox Odyssey is sometimes called the “first horror game,” that was just a generic puzzle title that came with a haunted house-shaped overlay for your TV. Other early titles could have scared players but weren’t necessarily designed for that purpose.

That’s why the 1981 ASCII title AX-2: Uchuu Yusousen Nostromo is considered one of the first “true” horror games. Essentially a rip-off of Alien, the game asked you to escape an invisible monster aboard a spaceship. The Sinclair ZX81’s 3D Monster (1981/82), which saw you run away from a dinosaur in a 3D maze, was another early genre innovator.

Handheld video games didn’t really come into their own until Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989. However, the concept of gaming on the go is much older than that. Actually, handheld gaming is about as old as console gaming. , from 1976, is generally considered to be the first handheld electronic video game. Though the “video” part of the game consisted of little more than lines and dots, the concept proved to be popular enough to quickly inspire a wave of imitators and follow-ups. From there, handheld gaming was off to the races.

INTERGALACTIC SPACEWAR OLYMPICS

While modern competitive gaming (or “Esports”) is bigger than anyone could have dreamed, gamers have been competing against each other for as long as games have been around. The first recorded video game competition happened way back in 1972 when five Stanford students competed in the

“Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics.” The winner received a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. Later, in 1980, over 10,000 people participated in a nationwide Space Invaders tournament. That was the earliest preview of the kind of large-scale competitive gaming tournament that we often see today.

FIRST HUMAN VS. HUMAN

GUN FIGHT

FIRST EXPLODING RED BARRELS

Gun Fight (1975) is one of the most innovative arcade games ever. It was the first arcade game to use a microprocessor, the first to use stereo sound, and even one of the first to utilize cinematic storytelling elements. Most importantly, Gun Fight was the first game to depict human vs. human combat. Its dueling digital cowboys weren’t much to look at, but they paved the way for some of the most successful (and controversial) video games ever. Gun Fight could also be considered the first “violent” video game ever, despite its lack of gore.

THE SPEED RUMBLER

The exploding red barrel is one of gaming’s most popular cliches. Developers know that they can use the simple visual of a red barrel to convey both danger and opportunity (depending on who is standing near it). Weaponized barrels have been around since Donkey Kong, but one of the first games to use exploding red barrels was the 1986 Capcom arcade game, The Speed Rumbler. That game was filled with exploding red barrels that served as one of your primary obstacles. Later, 1993’s Doom would popularize the idea of exploding barrels as both a hazard and a potential tool (though its barrels were gray).

S P O T L I G H T

Clockwise, from top: Season 3 of His Dark Materials takes us to new locations; panserbjørne king Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Joe Tandberg) returns; James McAvoy is back as Lord Asriel.

H I S D A R K M AT E R I A LS

AHEAD OF THE THIRD SEASON, PRODUCER JANE TRANTER AND STARS DAFNE KEEN AND AMIR WILSON TEASE THE FANTASY ADAPTATION’S EPIC CONCLUSION.

When Jane Tranter sat down to convince Philip Pullman to give Bad Wolf Studios—the company she had recently founded with fellow former BBC exec Julie Gardner—the rights to adapt the His Dark Materials saga for TV, it wasn’t the promise of stunning visuals that convinced him. “He liked [our pitch] because I met and talked with him for about two hours and, he said, ‘You never once mentioned the VFX or CGI,’” Tranter recounts to Den of Geek.

Seven years later, the His Dark Materials TV show is about to enter its third and final season. Those who have read the source material know this is the most fantastical yet. The Amber Spyglass novel includes the same talking bears, angels, and daemons as previous installments but also introduces the mulefa (horse-like, trunked beings who roll around on seed pods) and the Gallivespians (tiny humanoids who fly on dragonfly-like insects). “Someone asked me after the delivery of season 1, ‘What were you afraid of tackling in this adaptation?’” remembers Tranter. “I said nothing in season 1 made me feel afraid because I had the mulefa coming.”

Despite the obvious challenges, Tranter calls the adaptation “an undertaking of a lifetime,” which means quite a bit when you put it in the context of the former Controller of BBC Drama’s influential career, which includes overseeing the return of Doctor Who to television in 2005. “I don’t mean that in terms

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DAFNE KEEN

What can we expect from Lyra in season 3?

I’d say season 3 is the biggest journey that Lyra’s ever been on. She goes through different worlds; she has her first romantic thing. It’s all very exciting for Lyra and also very terrifying and also very sad and very dramatic and fun.

Can you talk about what it was like to film those final intense scenes between Will and Lyra?

Every kind of scene with Amir is always a pleasure because he brings so much to the table, and it’s very fun to play off of each other. So doing the heartbreaking, sad, crying scenes are just as fun as doing the playful, running around adventure scenes.

You’ve grown up filming this show, which is a story about the experience of growing up. What has that been like?

It’s been really amazing to get to go through those life experiences with the character and with the crew. The people who worked on the production have been with me through every single process that I’ve been through in the last four, five years of my life. And I’ve been through theirs. It’s been a huge privilege to get to do that with the same people every year, and to do it at the same time as Lyra.

of ‘there’ll never be anything more complicated’ or ‘there’ll never be anything bigger’ or ‘there’ll never be anything so multilayered,’”

Tranter elaborates. “It’s the fact that the books are so special and they are so beloved. And so, your responsibility to that source material is intense, tender, and meaningful. But, on top of that, you have to make those three books work in a contemporary television landscape.”

A contemporary landscape that includes TV shows and movies with much bigger budgets than His Dark Materials, which Tranter calls “very, very modest in comparison.” In part because of this, Tranter says: “Our strategy has always been that we will do less with more, rather than try to do more with less. So, in order to compete in any way at all, we have to make the fantasy feel more intimate.”

In the process of developing the rich realms of Lyra (Dafne Keen), Will (Amir Wilson), and the people (and not-people) they meet on their journey across worlds, Tranter and her team have never once lost sight of the story’s beating heart. “I think we successfully have made the third season very emotional,” says Tranter. “For me, The Amber Spyglass is essentially about love. Obviously, it’s about romantic love, but it’s also about parental love—mother and daughter, father and daughter [sometimes by proxy]—learning how to love.”

On the other side of what Tranter calls a “beloved challenge,” the storyteller is happy with how things have turned out. “I think what we did well in the third season was we have answered the questions that get posed during season 1 and season 2. And

sometimes, those questions are posed delightfully intriguingly. And other times, it’s kind of like, ‘What the hell is dust? And what does the prophecy mean? And why is this important?’

And you have to keep on asking those questions because those questions are the engine of Lara’s and then Lara and Will’s journey. I think, in the third season, we successfully answer all of those questions.”

And what does Pullman think? While he has yet to see the third season because he likes to wait until it is completed to watch, Tranter says his feedback throughout the process has been “a total joy,” as well as incredibly honest. “He’s always clear about what’s really important to him. We always ask if we’re going to step away [from the source material]. And, sometimes, he’s like, ‘Yes, that’s fine.’ And other times, he’s like, ‘Absolutely not.’ He’s just been brilliant.”

It probably helps that, through all of the Gallivespians and mulefa, His Dark Materials has never lost focus

of the fact that this is a story about growing up. “It doesn’t matter how brilliant the other things are,” says Tranter. “If you haven’t got the drama and character right, then it will be for nothing.”

His Dark Materials has helped to define the first phase of Bad Wolf’s history as a company. “I think what it taught us is courage and faith and conviction,” Tranter explains. “When we started on His Dark Materials, everyone said to me, ‘How are you going to do it?’ And I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know, but I do know that we can.’ I put the team together in a very particular way…. We kind of roped ourselves together and climbed that mountain, with me just telling people, ‘Don’t look down. Never look down. Keep looking towards the horizon and just keep going. And try to enjoy the journey.’”

His Dark Materials season 3 will air in 2022

AMIR

W I L S ON

Where do we find Will when season 3 begins?

He’s on a journey to find Lyra. Will has definitely got more of a sense of himself. His experiences, especially at the end of season 2, changed him. It was important for me to establish that Will’s grown into a new man, and he’s got his head screwed on. He knows what he wants and why he wants it.

What were you most excited to do in season 3?

I was really excited to do the Land of the Dead stuff. Reading about that whole world, I was really excited to go and film that.

What was it like filming those last scenes between Lyra and Will?

It was emotional. When you spend a lot of time playing a character, it’s sad to say goodbye but also a nice relief, in a sense. We got to go to Spain, and we filmed the end of the show at the end of the filming process, so I’m glad that happened.

What do you think viewers have to look forward to in this season?

“Love,” “loss,” and “death” are three words to describe this series. And I think the introduction of a lot of new worlds and new characters. Everyone has a lot to look forward to.

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S P O T L I G H T

T I TA N S S E AS O N 4

MEET THE TITANS’ NEWEST BIG BAD, BROTHER BLOOD, IN OUR EXCLUSIVE Q&A AHEAD OF THE HBO MAX SHOW’S FOURTH SEASON.

Joseph Morgan is no stranger to the supernatural, having made a name for himself as fan-favorite Klaus in The Originals. But in season 4 of HBO Max’s Titans, the lifelong comic book fan is bringing one of DC's darkest occult villains to the screen, and he couldn't be more excited about it.

Were comic books and DC something that you already had a connection with before becoming involved with Titans?

Oh yeah, absolutely. My granny used to work in a charity shop, and she got a load of Spider-Man comics that had been donated. The earliest memory I’ve got is of receiving this huge box and just plowing through them all. I grew up watching the old Batman series with Adam West and Burt Ward. Batman was my favorite. But I really always enjoyed the

villains weirdly enough; I’ve made a career of that, haven’t I? I’ve always been fascinated with those psychologically complex villains, as a lot of them tend to be, especially the Joker. Then I’ve read graphic novels all my life, and not just the superhero ones.

For fans who don't know who Sebastian Blood or Brother Blood is, how would you describe him? He’s someone who initially is quite introverted, who’s never quite found

his place in the world. He’s not able to formulate meaningful relationships. He feels like something isn’t right in his life and in the world. He’s right about that because there is a sort of greater destiny in store for him, which he becomes aware of and gets swept along on this path. Then gradually, he starts to take control of it. It’s really a journey of the ego. Sebastian is a guy who starts off with these big dreams, wanting to change the world. And as that starts to actually happen for him, the ego takes over.

What kind of preparation did you do to embody this character? First, I found the things I wanted to latch onto with him. What do I know about this guy? For me, it really started with, “Okay, well, where’s he from? Do I make him British or American?” I had a long chat with

Greg Walker—Titans’ showrunner— about that. We decided to make him British because I felt it gives him even more of a feeling of being an outsider.

I looked a bit at Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, of course, but he was a little more disenfranchised. There was a little more edge to him from the beginning. I felt like my character was a little more like Norman Bates, very sweet and tender. I was thinking about playing Sebastian more edgy with a little more of that anger of being rejected by society. But my wife said, “Maybe you should go more in the direction of him being sweet, innocent, and nice because it will give you a bigger arc to travel and a more interesting journey." She was right!

What makes him the perfect foe for the Titans?

For some of the Titans, certainly one of the Titans, there’s a big connection. So immediately, it’s building a dilemma. By the time you get halfway through the season, we’ve spent time together. We’re on a first-name basis. It’s not Brother Blood, Nightwing, and Raven. It’s Sebastian, Dick, and Rachel. I tried to maintain his humanity. Just as the ego is slightly visible in the cracks at the beginning, at the end, the humanity is still there, and the person he was still bleeds through.

Is there a moment that you’re most excited for fans to see or experience in Sebastian’s story? Oh man, there’s a bunch! But there’s a pretty iconic moment at the beginning of episode eight that Greg and I fought for because it was expensive. But we were both really keen for it to be a part of the show. I feel like fans of the comics and the animated series will look at it and go, “Oh yeah!” And for me, it took some guts to do, but I’m glad I did it because I feel like it’s one of those staple moments where it’s like, “He’s arrived; this is the guy!”

Titans season 4 airs on HBO Max in November.

PENNYWORTH: THE ORIGIN OF B ATMA N ’ S BUTLER

Pennyworth has a new name, a new home, and a new season.

When it was announced that Epix would be making a TV series based on the early life of Batman’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, fans were understandably intrigued, if a little apprehensive. But in its first two seasons, Pennyworth proved itself to be a dark, dramatic, and ambitious addition to DC TV. Following Alfred (Jack Bannon), an ex-SAS soldier who becomes embroiled in national conspiracies in his home of England before meeting the parents of Bruce Wayne, Pennyworth built an alt-universe world that was as dangerous as it was stylish and enjoyable. The retitled season 3 continues that tale: set five years after the events of the second season, the new chapter begins in the wake of Pennyworth’s civil war, “ushering in a new age of superheroes and supervillains.” — RK

Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler airs on HBO Max on Oct. 6.

DOOM PATROL S E A SON 4

Doom Patrol season 3 ended on a surprisingly hopeful note for the DC Comics team, as they decided to use their powers for good and even brought a new hero into the fold in the form of Michelle Gomez’s brilliant Madame Rouge. It leaned heavily into time travel thanks to Gomez's enigmatic explorer, and it looks like the new season will dive even deeper into those mysteries. Secrets will surely be revealed at the show’s NYCC panel, which will feature Brendan Fraser (Robotman), Diane Guerrero (Jane), April Bowlby (Elasti-Girl), Joivan Wade (Cyborg), and Gomez. Season 4 will send our heroes into the future, where they’ll come up against a tough decision: their own happiness or the fate of the world. Classic Doom Patrol shenanigans, then. — RK

Doom Patrol season 4 airs on HBO Max in December.

DC’s weirdest team is back in business.

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T H E P E R I P H E R A L

A HAPLESS

A

BY MICHAEL AHR

Prime Video’s adaptation of William Gibson’s mindbending 2014 novel, The Peripheral, has been a long time in the making, and showrunner Scott B. Smith likely needed every last minute of that time to translate the complex but heartfelt story for the small screen. The Peripheral follows Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz), a woman in a dead-end tech career who uses a strange headset to escape into an otherworldly, futuristic metropolitan London. If the series captures even a fraction of the novel’s brain-melting twists and turns, it’s bound to be quite a ride. Although Gibson is perhaps best known for his earlier cyberpunk stories, Smith sought to capture the more contemporary novel’s sympathetic characters to reach beyond a hard sci-fi audience. “Obviously, I came in so respectful of Gibson, and my first version of [the adaptation] was just trying to just be completely loyal to the book, and it wasn’t really working,” admits Smith. “So being able to step into the temple of Gibson and smear some mud on the walls, I think, was kind of a breakthrough point [while still] holding close to the characters and letting them guide me into the story a little bit.”

Fellow executive producer Greg Plageman, who took a similar

approach when he helmed CBS’s Person of Interest, felt engaged by Smith’s approach. “Scott really grappled with the book before I came aboard and just did a heroic, Herculean job of grounding it,” Plageman says. “Gibson’s worldbuilding is incredible; his characters are amazing. Scott really made it accessible to me, the same way I feel like Person of Interest had real heart to it. I feel like that is the anchor of The Peripheral as well, and that’s something I think we both brought to the table.”

Before the full reality-hopping story takes hold, viewers will meet Flynne, who works at a 3D printing shop, and her brother Burton, played by Jack Reynor. “Flynne is working at Forever Fab as she was in the book,” confirms

Plageman. “Burton is home from a war… and Flynne is the center pillar of the family. She’s the rock helping her brother, helping her mother, but she’s carrying a lot, and she doesn’t have a lot of sunlight in her life. So when this adventure opens up for her, I think as a viewer, and certainly, as a reader of the book, you feel that opening and that lift and excitement.”

Beyond the escapist adventure that viewers will be pulled into, The Peripheral has at its core the relationship between Flynne and her brother, a bond that Smith says was assisted by a similar closeness between the actors on set. “Chloë and Jack, the two actors that we got for the roles, felt like siblings as they were filming,” he says. “They became really close, and I think that comes

and her father being gone, her mother being terminally ill, and all these things.”

The deeper lore involves Flynne’s side job participating in VR games for wealthy people, which leads her to the titular peripheral, a headset that connects her to a world across the Atlantic that’s unlike any game she’s played. “The Peripheral is referencing how Flynne Fisher's character can access this future London world,” says Plageman. “What’s great about this is, given Flynne’s circumstances, having the ability to access another world opens up this almost Cinderella aspect to the show.”

The fairy tale nature of escaping the small southern town of Clanton to the big city provided an opportunity to create a visual contrast between realities. “We worried sometimes about transitions between the worlds, like, ‘Oh, do we need to make that more a story point?’” says Plageman. “And then even as I’m looking at the color, there's a warmth to Clanton. It’s almost got this sun-kissed glow about it. And then future London is a little bit more blue and cyan and that kind of thing. You can really tell the difference between the cosmopolitan and the rural here.”

“H AVING THE ABILITY TO ACCESS ANOTHER W ORLD OPENS UP T H IS ALMOST CINDERELLA A S PECT TO T H E SH O W.”

through in their performance. You feel like they are brother and sister and that there is this lifelong love between them.”

Plageman agrees that the family relationships in the show are what viewers will latch onto first. “You want the audience to care about something,

and you definitely care about this relationship. In the same way, you care about the relationship with their mother, which I think is integral to the show,” he says. “A great access point for Flynne Fisher is that you immediately identify with all the aspects of her life: her circumstances

Whether viewers come to this show as fans of science fiction, puzzle-box mysteries, or family drama, The Peripheral has it all. “There’s something in here for a lot of different demographics in terms of its sci-fi appeal, in terms of the gamer aspect of the show,” says Plageman. “Obviously, Chloë and Jack bring their own fans… and [the] speculation about what could happen between now and then in future London. So many things evolved so quickly in the world these past few years; it was a little startling. There is a relevance to the show that I think you’re going to find—one that is, underneath, a little bit harrowing.”

The Peripheral premieres on Prime Video Oct. 21st.

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B ATMAN SP AWN

TODD MCFARLANE AND GREG CAPULLO ARE REUNITING FOR A COMICS CROSSOVER 16 YEARS IN THE MAKING.

There’s something that’s charmingly accessible about Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo. Talking to them, you never get the feeling that you’re talking to a multimedia titan of geek culture or one of the most beloved Batman artists of all time, respectively. It feels more like running into two guys tailgating outside an Ozzy Osborne show, inviting you to geek out with them about their comic art collection, shooting the breeze about the car they’re working on together, and periodically dropping preternatural draftsmanship wisdom sprinkled with comic art history. And then McFarlane will say something like, “I’m in the business of cool. Period,” and you suddenly remember that you’re talking to two of the biggest names to ever create comics and that they’re teaming up for a fresh Batman Spawn crossover that is likely to be one of the biggest books of the decade.

Batman Spawn, out Dec. 13, sees villainous Gotham City secret society the Court of Owls using Spawn as a weapon in their war against Batman. It’s safe to say this isn’t how the story was conceived when this crossover was first announced. Mostly because the Court of Owls didn’t exist yet.

“Todd and I announced we were going to do this back in 2006 at San

energy he brought to the page. His vision of the Dark Knight was firmly in the sweet spot between the hulking behemoth of artists like Frank Miller or John Romita, Jr., and the lithe gymnast of Jim Aparo or Neal Adams.

“I think he could look more imposing when he’s a silhouette,” Capullo says. “I've known some very dangerous human beings, and they were like slabs of meat, [not] all ripped and cut, but boy, they fuck you up. So I wanted my Batman to be like that.”

Diego Comic-Con, and it never materialized,” says Capullo, who went on to create the Court of Owls with his Batman partner Scott Snyder five years later.

In fact, Capullo went on to become one of the most popular Batman artists of all time. Following a massive, multi-year run with McFarlane on Spawn, Capullo launched the New 52 flagship Batman title with Snyder and stayed on the book for a remarkable four-year stretch, during which his consistency was only matched by the

McFarlane, on the other hand, has continued to be one of the biggest names in all of nerd culture. Since 2006, he has worked on a still-indevelopment Spawn feature film, a variety of multimedia properties, and has run one of the most popular and successful toy companies in the world. Oh, and he also set a record for the longest-running creator-owned comic in history in 2019 when Spawn passed Cerebus with issue #301. Joining Todd for that issue: Greg Capullo, whose work in Spawn #301 marked the 75th

Below: Batman takes on a familiar foe in one of Batman Spawn’s panels.

Right: The Dark Knight fights Spawn on the main cover of Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo’s new book.

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issue of that series he contributed to. “Greg and I have been around each other now for 30 years,” says McFarlane. “This shoe was easy to slip into because we literally just went back to doing what we did for all those years before.”

“The most fun I ever had working in comics was with Todd,” adds Capullo.

As for what McFarlane considers must-haves in a Batman and Spawn crossover comic, his answer is simply: “Batman and Spawn.”

Anything else?

“No.”

He elaborates. “I approach [comic events like this] with the mindset of, ‘What would 16-year-old Todd have liked when I was collecting?’ And if you had told 16-year-old Todd that my favorite writer and artist team, John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Chris Claremont, were going to take the X-Men to meet the Justice League of America? I’m in.”

The reality of Batman Spawn isn’t quite that uncomplicated, but its goals are certainly that straightforward. “We’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of both Spawn and Image Comics this year,” McFarlane says. “If you’re 30 and under, [Image’s history is] folklore.” That folklore includes the original Spawn/Batman crossovers from 1994—one written by Frank Miller with art from McFarlane and one written by a team of classic Batman writers (Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant) with art from Klaus Janson. Those stories represented the first time an Image founder’s character crossed over with a DC one, a massive event in the history of the then-new company created explicitly as an alternative to the corporate comics that had thoroughly mistreated McFarlane and the rest

P O T L I G H T

Right: Batman’s infamous rogues gallery —featuring iconic villains such as The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Victor Zsasz, and Scarecrow—makes an appearance in art from Batman Spawn Opposite: The cover of Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection, which brings together the pair’s previous comic crossovers.

of his Image founder peers (and countless others before them). These two Spawn/Batman issues have never been reprinted until now: they will be collected together for the first time later this year.

“In any form of entertainment, people always want to be a part of big events to say, ‘Yeah, I was there.’” says McFarlane. “This is our moment to say, ‘Hey, for all of you that missed out and weren’t there for this a couple decades ago, here we go again. We’re going to have some fun. And for those of you that were, we’re going to hopefully do a bigger, badder, better version of what we did the last time.’”

Capullo is all in on going bigger, and re-teaming with McFarlane has him confident they’ll pull it off. “Todd’s an artist; he has that visual mind and knows what’s going to make a good-looking comic and what’s going to look right and good on a page,” Capullo tells us. “This just feels like we didn’t really miss a beat, and we’ve been doing it all along.”

You would think with everything McFarlane does aside from comics that the intervening years since that abandoned 2006 crossover would have modified his approach somewhat.

Oddly enough, though, it seems like Capullo, the guy who’s been almost

completely in comics since then (he has done art for several metal bands in addition to his comics work), is the one who has undergone the most change in the intervening decade and a half.

“I’ve got a good handle on Batman, but doing it in the context of working with Todd again and having Spawn in it just gives me a slightly different vibe,” Capullo says. “It still looks exactly like my Batman, but maybe the cape can be a little bit longer—he’s got cape envy.” Al Simmons, the CIA operative who makes a deal with the devil to return to life and comes back

with superpowers, a shapeshifting cape, and prehensile chains to be wrangled into the ultimate battle between heaven and hell, will do that to a guy.

McFarlane, for his part, doesn’t cross narrative streams. He’s been, at varying times, a comic writer, comic artist, screenwriter, Emmy-winning television producer, music video animator, licensing magnate, hockey team owner, and toymaker of some renown. But he works hard at keeping those threads separate.

“If you’re making a movie, then you make the best movie you think

you can at that moment,” McFarlane says. “You’re making a toy, you make the best toy you can. And if you’re making a comic book, you make the best comic book you can. So I’m not concerned whether the Batman Spawn book will drive toy sales or make a good animated show or a video game. I’m not thinking of any of that. I’m thinking that in December, when people get excited, and they basically go to the store to go, ‘Oh my God, it’s finally out,’ that they will say it was worth the price of admission at that moment.”

It’s those comic storytelling instincts, honed over the last 30 years, that seem to be driving the book. Capullo gets to build from his work and have a blast with an old friend. “I’ve done 30 pages now; that leaves us 18 to go. And [Todd] goes, ‘Now comes the fun stuff.’ I’m going, ‘Wow. Now comes the fun stuff?’”

Capullo tells us with no small amount of excitement about little Clown minions (miniaturized versions of Spawn’s archnemesis, Violator, who takes on the appearance of a disheveled clown from time to time), and about the new Talon, the chief assassin of the Court of Owls, which they get to introduce in Batman Spawn. “There’s just too much fun stuff,” he says. “It’s like Todd is force-feeding as much fun into this thing as he possibly can. And he’s delivering the goods.”

McFarlane gets to jam with a buddy and use his knowledge of what really matters to fans to push out another banger of a comic. “To me, all this is easy stuff,” he says. “Would doing a Batman Spawn book with Greg Capullo be cool? Yeah. Is it going to look awesome? Yeah. Is Greg having a good time? Yeah. Will the fans dig it? Yeah.”

Batman Spawn #1 is in comic shops on Dec. 13, 2022. Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection, collecting the previous two crossovers, hits stores a month earlier, on Nov. 15.

“WE’RE GOING TO DO A BIGGER, BADDER, BETTER VERSION OF WHAT WE DID THE LAST TIME”

NYC C

S P O T L I G H T

THE RIDDLER: YEAR ONE

PAUL DANO TELLS US ABOUT WRITING A PREQUEL TO THE BATMAN ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS OF THE RIDDLER FOR DC COMICS.

Paul Dano brought a haunting and disturbing edge to Edward Nashton, better known as the Riddler, in this year’s movie The Batman. Now the actor is taking his talents to the comics page and filling in the character’s backstory for The Riddler: Year One, with art by Stevan Subic, for DC Comics. Dano spoke with us about his first time writing comics and getting even deeper into the Riddler’s head.

maybe semi-obsessive approach to our work. So in preparation, we talked a lot about Edward. I had read so many comics to prepare for the part that I felt like his backstory should have that archetypal essence that comic images have, where it’s almost like an image tells the story. I did have key backstory images in my mind, so I told Matt about a couple of them, and he was like, “that should be a comic.” I secretly thought it could be, but I hadn’t expressed that, except maybe to my wife. And literally the next day, either he or our producer, Dylan Clark, spoke to DC.

Edward is something of a pathetic figure in the first issue. How do you balance that with his later villainy?

How much of your preparation for the role of the Riddler ended up on the page with this book?

The essence of it is there, and that’s sort of why I’m doing this. A lot of my work as an actor is to get to page one of the script and to sort of build the life that was lived so I can carry it with me into the film. Whether that means just physically or point-of-view-wise, we all carry our lives with us in some way, shape, or form. So each time, it’s kind of about building that so that it’s not just [me and my] unconscious, but it’s some meeting of Paul and the character [of Edward Nashton].

The emotional essence of the comic was my backstory [for the role]. It didn’t have a plot in the same way that this does. Once I started working on the comic, I really felt like I didn’t want it to just be in service of the film. I wanted the story to stand on its own,

and I wanted it to be an experience for the reader. There are elements in this comic now that weren’t a part of my backstory when I was making the film, but it’s all to support the general backstory that I had in mind when I was playing the character and what got me there. It’s taken on its own life now, though, and it’s out of my control at this point. Once you start writing and working with the artist, it just keeps growing and taking on its own life in a way that I really like.

How did you go from playing the Riddler onscreen to writing this comic about him?

I think it was one of my last nights of filming. [The Batman director] Matt Reeves and I had talked a lot about backstory. We get along really well. We’re both a little bit like-minded in a sort of very meticulous, thorough,

As an actor, I have to have enough empathy to find a way in [to a character]. But now, I’m not just playing a character; I’m also a storyteller writing a comic. So I do have to think about what this is. If anything, I hope that this ends up being a cautionary tale. He’s not a hero, even though we’re in his point of view. This is a guy who’s never had anybody give him the time of day in his entire life and never had a chance—so what’s it like to be as smart as he is? What’s it like to be a

IMAGE

genius, but nobody knows [that you are]? This is a guy who’s really struggling. I think the opportunity here for me, or what I have to give to this medium, is a really subjective, emotional, psychological experience of the character.

What was your collaboration with Stevan Subic like? His art suits this world so well. I can’t wait for people to see his work because I really think he’s got something. He’s been just wonderful to work with. I wrote in treatment form [rather than full script] and I sent it to Stevan, and we had to kind of find the language together. This first

issue was highly collaborative. He’d share his screen on Zoom and draw some layouts, and we’d talk about it, get the storytelling down, and find our common language. Then he’d start doing the pencils, and I’d keep writing the next thing. I don’t know what any other relationship is like between a comic writer and a comic artist, but ours I find to be super collaborative. It’s been a really cool collaboration, and I’ve learned a lot. That’s been the really fun thing about this.

The Riddler: Year One #1 arrives on Oct. 25. You’ll be able to listen to this full interview on an upcoming episode of our DC Standom podcast later this month.

Above: The Riddler: Year One, written by Paul Dano with art from Stevan Subic, develops the backstory of the villain who was last seen going up against Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight in The Batman.

YOUR GUIDE TO NEW YORK COMIC CON

Who’s ready to geek out? In this special section, you will find everything you need to know about New York Comic Con, including floor plans, exhibitor lists, special guests, and a guide to all the great events, panels, and features taking place each day of NYCC. Now it’s time to hit the show floor!

SHOW FEATURES

COSPLAY CENTRAL

LOCATED IN THE RIVER PAVILION

Want to see all the amazing cosplayers in action during the show? New York Comic Con is home to some of the best cosplayers in the entire world, and your one-stop-shop for all things cosplay is Cosplay Central! Located at the River Pavilion in the Javits Center, Cosplay Central is home to panels, photo opportunities, and interactive experiences! Want to learn how to get started cosplaying from some of the pros or how to take your cosplay game to the next level? Stop by the Cosplay Central stage where there will be panels happening all weekend. Want to sell an old cosplay or get yourself a new one? Come check out Coscove, a one of a kind Secondhand Buy/Sell Market for fans! Popped a stitch or a piece of your cosplay came off? Head on down to Cosplay Central and visit the Paladins of Cosplay for some complimentary cosplay repair assistance and supplies. Don’t worry superhero, we’ve got you covered. Plus, be sure to visit the Main Stage on Saturday night at 9:30 PM for the inaugural Cosplay Central Crown Championships. The best of the best will be there to square off and see who is truly the best cosplayer NYCC has to offer. The winner will win a trip to compete against cosplayers all over the world in 2023! We will also be hosting a Cosplay Showcase on Sunday so make sure to come check it out for even more amazing cosplay!

GAMING ZONE

FLOOR AND 1E HALL

It’s time to level up your fun in the Gaming Zone! Whether you’re hardcore or casual, digital or analog—we have something for you. Featuring organized play, tournaments, and console freeplay for all the hottest new games, retro favorites and can’t-miss classics, Dungeons & Dragons sessions, tabletop board games and card games, the Gaming Zone is the perfect place to take a short rest. It’s dangerous to go alone so grab your friends and head on over because we’re ready to play.

PANELS

Each year, NYCC brings you the best panels from major studios, our partners, and community members. This year is no exception, plus we get to take advantage of Javits Center’s beautiful new building. Visit panels on: Level 1 (1C03, 1B02, 1E01, Main Stage), Level 4 (401, 405, 406.1, 406.2, 406.3, 408), and Level 5 (Empire Stage for all your favorite fandoms: anime, books/literary, comics, gaming, professional programming, film/TV, comedy, Broadway, just about anything!

PANELS RUN EVERY

DAY FROM:

Thursday: 10:30 AM—10:30 PM

Friday: 10:30 AM—11:00 PM

Saturday: 10:30 AM—11:00 PM Sunday: 10:30 AM—6:00 PM

COMMUNITY LOUNGE

We’re proud to bring back the NYCC Community Lounge for this year’s show! An open and inviting space for fans and local community groups to gather and interact at the show, the Community Lounge is the perfect place to hang out during the day at NYCC. Featuring booths from local community groups, panels and fandom-related meetups —this new space seeks to foster the community that NYCC was built on. Stop by and check out some cool programming, or just take a load off with likeminded fans!

FAMILY HQ

ROOM 1E01-05

Is your child star-struck over Star Wars? Are they an amateur artist or wee wizard? Then Family HQ is the place for you! In Family HQ, we have something for everyone. Kids and parents alike can join in our drawing workshops, interactive activities, and entertaining performances. Play along in the interactive zone where we’ll have family games, performances, story time, photo opportunities, and kids cosplay showcases. Hang out in the workshop space where kids can explore their artistic side early with professionals from our very own Artist Alley! Some of the creators who have made art their livelihood will join us in Family HQ to walk kids through some drawing demonstrations and tutorials.

Who’s in Family HQ?

NEW YORK CITY GHOSTBUSTERS

The New York City Ghostbusters are back at NYCC to teach you how to make your own ectoplasmic slime! The NYCGBs are a fan-organized cosplay group who use their love of the classic film franchise to educate children in STEM-based activities, all while raising money for local charities.

501ST - EMPIRE CITY GARRISON

EMPIRE SABER GUILD

Our mission is to share our love of Star Wars with people of all ages and to follow the Jedi path of spreading hope and good will wherever we go. We aim to bring a little bit of wonder and transport our audiences to a galaxy far, far away. Saber Guild is a nonprofit, all-volunteer, international organization that specializes in lightsaber stage choreography.

The 501st Legion’s Empire City Garrison presents Blast-A-Trooper to Benefit Make-A-Wish. Ever wanted to actually blast a Stormtrooper? Now you can—and you’ll help a good cause at the same time! The 501st Legion takes its Blast-A-Trooper program, in which attendees blast Imperials with NERF weapons, to NYCC with sessions Thursday through Sunday. For a small fee kids and adults will have the opportunity to test their skills against some imperial foes. All proceeds benefit the New York chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation

PANEL HIGHLIGHTS

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the panels you’ll be able to experience this weekend. Be sure to check the NYCC website and app for the most up-to-date panel schedule!

HBO MAX’S VELMA

Thursday 3:30 to 5:00pm Main Stage

From Warner Bros. Animation, Velma is an adult animated comedy series telling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. An original and humorous spin that unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers. Join executive producer Mindy Kaling who voices Velma, along with showrunner Charlie Grandy and special guests, for a sneak peek at the first episode.

GHOSTS EXCLUSIVE SCREENING AND PANEL

Thursday 2pm to 3pm Main Stage

Welcome to Woodstone! TV’s #1 new series and fan favorite phenomenon Ghosts, follows Samantha and Jay, a couple who learn that their new dream house is inhabited by ghosts that only Samantha can see and hear. Please join select cast members and executive producers for an exclusive sneak peek of an episode from Season Two, followed by a lively and “spirited” moderated panel discussion.

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

Friday 2:00 to 3:00 pm Main Stage

Join the cast and creative team of the highly anticipated Disney+ Original series American Born Chinese, the genre-hopping action-comedy based on the

graphic novel of the same name. The series follows the life of Chinese American teen Jin Wang as he navigates high school and unwittingly finds himself entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods. The event will include a moderated panel with Q&A to treat audiences to behind-the-scenes details about the making of the series and a first look at the action-packed, coming-of-age adventure that explores identity, culture, and family while introducing Western audiences to popular Chinese mythological characters. Talent will be announced at a later date.

TEEN WOLF: THE MOVIE & WOLF PACK

Friday 6pm to 7pm Main Stage

The wolves return to Comic Con with Teen Wolf: The Movie and Wolf Pack creator Jeff Davis joining back-to-back conversations with the film and series’ casts to discuss the upcoming movie and tease what to anticipate from the new series.

PRIME VIDEO PRESENTS: THE PERIPHERAL

Saturday 11am to 12pm Main Stage

Immerse yourself in the world of The Peripheral! Join series stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Jack Reynor, Gary Carr, T’Nia Miller, and JJ Feild, Executive Producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, creator and showrunner Scott B. Smith, and director Vincenzo Natali as they give fans a first-look at sci-fi thriller The Peripheral. The series

centers on Flynne Fisher (Moretz), a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future; until the future comes calling for her. The Peripheral is based on William Gibson’s bestselling novel of the same name and gives viewers a hallucinatory glimpse into the fate of mankind— and what lies beyond.

MARVEL’S MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR

Saturday 5:30pm to 6:30pm Room 405 Moon Girl Magic! Join the cast and creative team behind Disney Branded Television’s highly anticipated animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, ahead of its 2023 premiere on Disney Channel and Disney+, for a conversation about this innovative action-comedy series centered on African American teen girl Super Hero, Lunella Lafayette (aka Moon Girl) and her 10-ton T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur.

THE WINCHESTERS PILOT SCREENING AND Q&A

Sunday 2pm to 3:15pm Empire Stage

Before Sam and Dean, there were their parents, John and Mary. Told from the perspective of narrator Dean Winchester, the Supernatural prequel series is the epic, untold love story of how John Winchester and Mary Campbell met, fell in love, and started a demonhunting family on their own. Join members of the cast and producers for a screening of the pilot, followed by a Q&A. The Winchesters is from executive

producers Robbie Thompson (Supernatural, Cursed), Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys), Danneel Ackles (Supernatural), and David H. Goodman (Once Upon a Time, Fringe). The cast includes Meg Donnelly (American Housewife, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S), Drake Rodger (The In Between), Nida Khurshid (For the People), Jonathan “JoJo” Fleites, Demetria Kinney (Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Motherland: Fort Salem), Bianca Kajlich (Dawson’s Creek, Legacies), and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys). Glen Winter (Arrow, Doom Patrol, Titans) directed the pilot, for which he also served as executive producer. The Winchesters premieres October 11, airing Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW, and is produced by Chaos Machine Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS

PRESENTS THE TIDAL ZONE

Sunday 2pm to 2:45pm Main Stage

Embark on a multidimensional adventure throughout Bikini Bottom in this behind-the-scenes discussion about the first-ever SpongeBob Universe crossover special, SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone Legendary voice talent Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Jill Talley (Karen, Squidina), Dana Snyder (GrandPat), and executive producers Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, The Patrick Star Show, and the Paramount+ Original Series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years will take fans on an undersea adventure to explore these iconic shows and characters and share what to expect next from SpongeBob and the denizens of Bikini Bottom.

GUEST

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

STAGE

STAGE

This guide was finalized in September 2022, almost a month before NYCC. We can almost guarantee there have been updates or changes to the schedule and information since then. Download the NYCC App for the most upto-date info at NYCCMobile.com.

Thursday Lunch with Trash Taste

12:30 - 1:30

Hero-At-Law: The Law and Practice of Representing Comic Book Creators and Publishers

10:45 - 2:00

1B-02 ROOM 405

Defending Manga

11:15 - 12:15

Avatar: Braving the Elements Pod 12:00 - 1:pm

The Manga Industry and Your Library!

12:45 - 1:45

Big City Greens

1:30 - 2:30

Ghosts Exclusive Screening and Panel

2:00 - 3:00

Kickstarting Comics in 2022 and beyond!

2:30 - 3:30

Best & Worst Manga 2022

Universal Pictures

4:00 - 5:00

HBO Max’s Velma

3:30 - 5:00

What’s Next for Webtoons? Webtoon Publishing Roundtable

4:00 - 5:00

2:15 - 3:15 Improbable Imaginings: AKA Flights of Fantasy Fiction

3:45 - 4:45 Garbage Pail Kids: A Gross Out Update

The Owl House

3:00 - 4:00 Koala Man 4:30- 5:30

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Panel

Presented by Aniplex

5:30 - 6:30

HBO and BBC One’s His Dark Materials

5:30 - 6:30

Mark Gruenwald and the Mighty Marvel Bullpen

5:30 - 6:30

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches

7:00 - 8:00

Prime Video Presents: The Legend of Vox Machina

7:30 - 8:30

World Premiere – Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm

8:30 - 10:30

Stan Lee’s Alliances: Orphans, An Original Graphic Novel

7:00 - 8:00

5:15 - 6:15 Kickass Women in Fantasy 6:45 - 7:45 Queers In the Mainstream 8:15 - 9:15

The Paloni Show! Halloween Special! 5:30- 6:15

Solar Opposites

6:15 - 7:00

Netflix Presents: The Midnight Club

7:30 - 9:00

Yes! But How? Building LGTBQ+ Affirming Schools through Comics

12:15 - 1:15

Tween-Age

Explore the DC Multiverse Panel

1:45 - 2:45

Visual Storytelling Basics for Comic Books

3:15 - 4:15

PLAYBILL presents “The Big Broadway Nerd Panel”

1:30 - 2:30

Building Fandoms & Franchises with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios

3:00 - 4:00

Predicting Future Technology - From Sci-Fi to Reality

3:15 - 4:15

Pop-Culture

Fandom and Comics in the College Classroom

1:30 - 2:30

Heavy Metal State of The Union

3:00 - 4:00

-

-

Captain America: Cold War – A This Week in Marvel Special Event

1:45 - 2:45

When Cosplay Meets Runway:

Comic Con to the Met Gala

- 3:15

HBO Max’s Pennyworth: The Origins of Batman’s Butler 3:15 - 4:30

Design

- 4:45

WEBTOON + DC: Building a New Generation of Fans and Heroes

- 5:45

Traps, Tropes, and Tribulations: The Genre Comics Panel 4:30 - 5:30

Titmouse Inc. We Make Cartoons!

4:45 - 5:45

Ultraman Connection LIVE in New York

- 5:30

One of Us is Lying 5:00 - 6:00

And-ing

Way to More Convincing Cosplay

- 6:15

Where Were You in 1992? A Look Back at Music Videos

- 7:15

Call Itta DrawThe Improvised Drawing Show

- 8:45

The world of Black Panther from beyond the comics

- 7:00

Not Your Mother’s Romance

- 8:30

Lower your Sights Creators on the Benefit Anthology for Ukraine

- 7:15

2nd Annual Look at the New Age of Musicals

- 7:00

How Spider-Man Taught Me My First Physics Lesson!

7:30 - 8:30

Significant Other World Premiere Screening & Panel 6:30 - 8:30

Nerdy & Flirty (A Nerdlesque Workshop)

6:45 - 7:45

Prime Video Presents: Good Omens 11:00 - 12:00

Chainsaw Man Dub Cast Panel and US Premiere 12:45 - 1:45

Dan Harmon Presents Krapopolis

- 12:00

Copyright and Contracts for Creators 11:00 - 12:00

Exclusive Author Panel: The Rise of Queer Horror 11:15 - 12:15

Crunchyroll Industry Panel 10:30 - 11:30

Spotlight on Leigh Bardugo 12:00 - 1:00

The Mysterious Benedict Society

- 1:30

How to Draw Your Imagination with Kim Jung Gi

- 1:30

Authors on the Best Advice They Ever Got 12:45 - 1:45

American Born Chinese 2:00 - 3:00

Chucky Season 2: Cast Conversation and Exclusive Sneak Peek 2:30 - 3:30

Prime Video Presents: The Wheel of Time & The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 4:15 - 6:15

World Premiere –Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons

3:30 - 5:30

Scary books for the ages: A conversation with R.L. Stine and James Howe 2:00 - 3:00

This Manga is Awesome! Manga Must-Reads and Underrated Gems 3:30 - 4:30

Intentionally Blank Podcast with Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells 2:00 - 3:30

Marvel Comics: Marvel Fanfare with C.B. Cebulski

1:30 -2:30 Viz Official Panel Featuring Ultraman 3:00 - 4:00

Fierce Reads for Fall 3:45 - 4:45

Teen Wolf: The Movie & Wolf Pack

6:00 - 7:00

Crowdfunding Comics! 5:00 - 6:00 How (Not) to Succeed in Comics (Without Really Trying!)

5:30 - 6:30

Violent Night: Exclusive Screening Event

- 9:15

My Hero Academia Live Concert Experience

- 9:00

The Science of Science Fiction 8:00 - 9:00

Leaning in to the Witchy 5:15 - 6:15

Reginald The Vampire: Exclusive Screening and Conversation 4:30- 5:30 Ralph Macchio Spotlight 6:00 - 7:00

Spotlight: Omar Epps for Nubia: The Awakening 6:45 - 7:45

A World of Demons: The Villains of Doctor Who 8:15 - 9:15

Comics and Creatures

- 10:45

Let The Right One In: Special Screening of the new Showtime series, followed by Q&A with cast & creators 8:00 - 9:30

SCHEDULE

STAGE

One Piece Film: Red Cast & Crew Panel

10:45 - 11:45

Prime Video Presents: The Peripheral

- 12:00

Coffee & Comics: NYCC Edition LIVE!

11:00 - 12:00

Criminal Compulsions: the appeal of crime fiction

My Hero Academia Panel

- 1:30

Smallville Cast Reunion

- 1:30

Publishers Weekly presents: Comics in the Post Pandemic World

- 1:30

- 12:15 Thriller Queens

- 1:45

SCAN

Titans of Fantasy In Conversation

- 1:00

Bleach: ThousandYear Blood War Ep.

A Conversation with the Crows and Leigh Bardugo

2:00 - 3:00

Family, Friendships, Gender Identity and Queerness in YA Horror/Thriller/Fantasy

- 3:00

Spooks, Shivers, and Shrieks: Horror

- 3:15 Super Salaam! Muslim Nerds Geeks & Fans

- 4:45

Brandon Sanderson Q&A and Reading

1:30 -3:30

Sourcebooks Presents: Romantasy Books You Never Knew You Needed 6:45 - 7:45

Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing

5:00

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

- 6:30

Death For Hire: Comic Crime Mythology with Ice-T, Coco, Arabian Prince & More

- 7:45

Netflix’s Wednesday

- 8:45

Creator Connection: Facilitated Professional Networking

- 9:00

Records of Anime: Collecting Anime Music Vinyl

- 9:15

presents

Broadway

Party”

- 11:45

Oddballs! A brand

animated series from

- 11:30

Where

-

Liminality & Power

the Lens of Speculative

- 11:30

Marvel’s Voices: The World Outside

Window

- 12:15

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Comic Book to Screen

12:15 - 1:15

Source Point Press: The Future of Horror Comics!

- 1:00

Pop Culture Connection

- 1:30

presents: Scott Snyder and Jock

- 1:00

Goosebumps with R.L. Stine: 30 Years of Fear 12:45 - 1:45

Kings Queens Cosplay and Crossplay

- 12:15

Arroz con Cosplay: Cosplay in the Latinx/Hispanic Community

- 1:45

DC’s Superman Panel

1:45 - 2:45

YA Graphic Novels & How They’re Bringing New Readers to Comics 3:15 - 4:15

OMG Ginormo is Turning Hollywood Upside Down!

1:30 - 2:30

The Saga Strikes Back: What’s Next for The Dragon Prince 3:00 - 4:00

Outlander BTS

Discussion with

OutlanderBTS

- 2:45

Star Wars: The High Republic Returns!

3:15 - 4:15

Spotlight on Abrams ComicArts

1:30 - 2:30

Frank Miller Presents: Ronin

The George Lucas Talk Show

3:00 - 4:00

Build a Cosplay Ballgown: Corsets, Hoops, and More!

4:45 - 5:45

There’s No Escape (Key)

6:15 - 7:15

Ghosts Of New York

- 8:45

Late Night Karaoke

- 11:15

The New York Comic Con Charity Art Auction benefiting St. Jude 6:30 - 9:30

Jim Henson: The Early Years 4:45 - 5:45

The Yen Press Industry Panel: Manga Korean Comics and More!

4:30 - 5:30

Yakity YAK-Don’t Talk Black!

6:15 - 7:15

Spider-Man and more: Designing New York for Film and TV

- 7:00

The Lord of the Rings is Backand We’ve Got the Scoop!

7:45 - 8:45

Cosplay Makeup

with Mehron Makeup

- 3:15

- 3:15 NY Avengers Cosplay 4 Cause 3:45 - 4:45

Netflix Presents: Manifest Season 4 3:45 - 4:45 Multiverse Got Talent 5:15 - 6:15

Netflix Presents: Wendell and Wild 5:15 - 6:15

Netflix Presents: Freak Bros

- 7:45

3 Worlds, 3 Moons [SEPARATELY TICKETED EVENT]

7:00 - 9:00

Late Night Bingo 8:00 - 10:00

SCHEDULE

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

STAGE

STAGE

Sunday Morning Tea

With Two Highlanders & A Lord

10:30 - 11:30

The Muppets Mayhem

11:00 - 12:00

Drafting Comic Book Contracts: A Practical Guide

10:45 - 1:00

Oscar Issac Spotlight 12:15 - 1:15

An Animation Journey with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim

- 1:30

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: Defending Comics Today

1B-02 ROOM

The Winchesters Pilot Screening and Q&A 2:00- 3:00

Let’s Get WEIRD 4:00 - 5:00

SpongeBob Squarepants Presents The Tidal Zone 2:00 - 3:00

1:30 - 2:30

The Magic Tree House 30th Anniversary Celebration 11:15 - 12:15

Women of Marvel

10:30 - 11:30

HBO Max and DC’s Doom Patrol and Titans

3:30 - 5.00

Building on the Bones: Retold and Reimagined 3:00 - 4:00

Unravelling Mysteries Spotlight 12:45 - 1:45

Legion M: How Fans are Disrupting Hollywood by Equity Crowdfunding Film & TV 2:15 - 3:15

Humans and Bots Unite in Transformers: EarthSpark 12:00 - 1:00 L.A.V.A. Live! 1:30 - 2:30 Kindred 4:00- 5:00

The Future is Not Unwritten 3:45 - 4:45

Editors on Portfolios: Pitching and Professionalism

4:30 - 5:30

This guide was finalized in September 2022, almost a month before NYCC. We can almost guarantee there have been updates or changes to the schedule and information since then. Download the NYCC App for the most up-to-date info at NYCCMobile.com.

406.1

406.2

406.3

408

DC’s Gotham City Panel

10:45 - 11:45

Vault Comics: The Next Five Years!

12:15 - 1:15 George Perez Tribute Panel

1:45 - 2:45

Star Wars: Stories from a Galaxy Far Far Away...

10:30 - 11:30

Exploring Diversity and Intersectionality in Media Vol 3 12:00 - 1:00

The Thing vs. E.T.: 40 Years of Aliens We Love and Fear (Den of Geek) 10:45 - 11:45

Frank Miller

Presents: Pandora

10:30 - 11:30

Batwheels

11:00 - 12:00

How To Make Your Builds Accessible for Those Living with Impairment.

11:15 - 12:15

The Evolution of IDW Publishing 12:15 - 1:15

Emily Hampshire Conjures Magic with Amelia Aierwood

12:00 - 1:00

Fuuto PI Panel and Finale Screening

12:15 - 1:15

CosFashion: Bring your Fandom to the Runway

12:45 - 1:45

Taking Off with Rocketship Entertainment!

1:30 - 2:30

Diamond Select Toys & Gentle Giant Ltd.

1:45 - 2:45

Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin

1:30 - 2:30

Diana Gabaldon Spotlight

1:45 - 2:45

Nailed It: Project Cosplay! 2:00 - 3:30

Sea of ThievesThe Golden Age of Storytelling

3:15 - 4:15

NYCC Staff Q&A

3:00 - 4:00

Joe Gatto + SuperheroIRL! The powers of Comedy & Kindness

3:15 - 4:15

Storytelling of Wakanda: Marvel’s Black Panther

3:00 - 4:00

Playbill Presents: Sesame Street The Musical Panel

3:15 - 4:15

Sustainable Cosplay - Save Money &; Our Planet!

3:45 - 4:45

What’s Hot in YA?: A Random House Children’s Books Buzz Panel

4:45 - 5:45

Black Nerds in Geekspace!

4:30 - 5:30

Predicting Future Technology - From Sci-Fi to Reality

4:45 - 5:45

Race, Gender, and the Comic Book Medium

4:30 - 5:30

SHOW FLOOR — LEVEL 3

EXHIBITORS

1Up Keyboards 3377

60 Day Novel Writing Challenge 1846

A

Aaron Lambert Art 1759

AGameMerch 3719

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO 2757

ASC Troopers Touch Entertainment 2273

Aaron Lambert Art 3181

Abrams Books 3129

Absolute Comics & Statues 3409, 3511, 3612

Akiba HQ 3576

All Blue Anime 4145

Amourable Art 2062

Animation Art Emporium 1966 Anime Depot/King Roach Enterprises Inc 3272 Anime Gifts 3739

Anime Remix/168 Dragon Trading 2872

Anime Sekai LLC 4159

Armory Quest 4356

Art and Design High School 1280

Art of Shawn Durington 2077

Artistic Flavorz 4157

Artoons 3959

Atsuko 1125

Awesome Minis 3641

B

BAIT 1015

Bandai NAMCO Entertainment America Inc 2119

Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America Inc. (BNTCA) 2301, 2607

Bandai Spirits Co. LTD 2337

Battle Quest Comics 3049

Bearded Artist 2036

Best Anime Shop 2173

Bitz & Buttons 4344

Black Dog Collectibles 3707

Blackjadedwolf Inc 1474

Boone Enterprises Authentic Autographs 3361

BoxWood Boards Co 3566

Brian C. Roll

C

CCP Comics/Dead Robot

Miami

Carnivore Comics

Passion

Certified Guaranty Company

Signature Series

Guaranty Company

Cloud

Comix

Coach PS Universe

Collectible Empire

Collectionzz

Collectors Heaven 2177 Collectors Universe and Anime Inc 3473

Comic Book Art and Collectibles 3465 Comic Pop Collectibles

ComicXposure

Comiclink 3419 Comics Elite LLC 3165 Cosplay MooMoo 3360 Cross Country Collectibles 3257 Culturefly LLC

cutiehats

D

D&Tea

Damon Bowie

Gallo

Dave & Adam’s Card

Diamond Select Toys

Publishing

Club

Glover

Productions

E

eBay 1209

EVO Universe 1851

East Side Comics 3518

End Zone Collectibles

Equilibrium (Urban Survival Gear)

F

FU-Stamps

FYE

Fat Guy Inc

Mikes

J

jellykoe 1480

J&J Collectibles 3072

JMD Toy Store 3457

Jaco Tartaruga

Jaime Coker 3657

James C. Mulligan

James Spence Authentication 4058

Jamie Tyndall 1867

JapanWave 1040

Jason Edmiston & Brian Ewing 1373

Jed Thomas 4047

Jewelry Brands/SalesOne Intl

K

Kathy100 & Potatobuns 3476

Kehasuk 3172

Koch Comics 3347

Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)

Kristina’s Comics

L

Larger Than Life Toys & Comics 4046

Legion M 1054

Lexicon of Love Music Art 2379

Lily Bean Couture 2280

Literary Alterations 3740

Little Bad Wren 3949

Little Shop Of Pins 4349 Lost 4 Toys 2079

Lychee Media 3818

M Marvel 2057

M. Lineham Art 2981

MDBX Studios 1245

MELORIA 4038

MIGHTY

1537

Mad Cave Studios 3065

Marvelous Merchandise

Mehron Makeup 1344

Mess Bucket Comics 1856

Midtown Comics 3137

NECA

N

Nickelodeon/Nicktoons

O

Origami

P

Reece’s Rare Comics

RockLove Jewelry

Royal Collectibles

Rune Works Productions

S

S. Preston Art + Designs

Sara M. Schaller - Author

Scott Kraynak

Sean Carlson Art

Shark Angels

SharkRobot

Shawn Coss

U

V

W

Y

Z

ARTIST ALLEY

24x4

F-36

Anthony Marques F-09

Ariel Diaz J-24

AAriela Kristantina D-32

Arielle Jovellanos B-17

Art Baltazar B-01

Aaron Campbell D-37

Ace Continuado H-16

Adi Granov E-01

Adriana Melo J-14

Adriano DI Benedetto J-13

Agnes Garbowska A-10

Alan Quah C-29

Alberto J. Alburquerque C-07

Alessandro Cappuccio E-35

Alex Maleev I-19

Alex Sanchez G-01

Alex Saviuk F-04

Alex Segura G-46

Alexander Riegel E-45

Alice X. Zhang (AliceXZ) I-12

Allenerie F-42

Alvaro Martinez Bueno C-24

alyruko B-35

Alyssa Wong A-11

Amanda Conner I-08

Amy Chu C-12

Andrea Broccardo H-36

Andrew Day F-46

Andrew Lee Griffith K-03

Andrew MacLean D-22

Andrew Pepoy B-07

Andrew rosenbarger E-45

Andy Price A-02

Ann Marcellino B-29

Anna A-26

Anthony Del Col F-13

Anthony Fowler Jr. K-14

Anthony Lau G-42

Art of Al Abbazia A-34

Art of Alexander Iaccarino J-03

Art of Pinto L-05

Art of Rachta Lin E-43

Arthur Adams D-09

Ashley A. Woods J-05

Asiah Fulmore K-26

B

Babs Tarr I-09

Barbara Nosenzo H-36

Belen Ortega L-12

Bella Rachlin F-44

Ben Templesmith G-18

Ben Bishop B-13

Ben Caldwell C-05

Ben Harvey L-25

Ben Oliver C-34

Beverly L.A. Illustration and the

Art of Rachel Elese B-30

Bill McKay L-22

Bill Plympton H-05

Bill Walko B-09

Billy Martin E-20

Billy Tucci L-20

Bob Hall G-06

Bob Camp A-08

Bordin Marsinkul E-28

BossLogic E-48

Brandon Kenney C-19

Brandon Peterson D-18

BREED I-17

Brian Azzarello J-21

Brian Level D-24

Brian Schirmer H-26

Brianna Garcia G-13

Bryan Fyffe G-10

Bryan Valenza F-26

Bryce Kho Draws B-22

Buzz K-20

C

Caitlin Yarsky D-33

Caleb King A-22

Cantarella Ink G-25

Cara McGee A-16

Carlations G-08

Casey Parsons I-20

Cat Staggs I-02

Catherine Suh G-44

Celia Calle L07

Chad Hardin G-29

Charles P Wilson III F-17

Charles Soule J-30

Charles Thurston A-05

Chin Fong G-45

Chris Campana J-25

Chris Claremont J-01

Chris Condon E-36

Chris Ehnot G-19

Chris Hamer / Urbnpop F-15

Chris Schweizer H-06

Chrissie Zullo F-18

Christian Gonzalez G-33

Christina Chang E-27

Christine Chang F-39

Christopher Jones B-10

Christopher Uminga E-18

Chuck Kaslow B-32

Claudia Gray J-29

Clay Mann I-31

Clay McCormack D-05

Clayton Henry J-02

Clinton T Hobart F-01

Cody Ziglar I-41

Colleen Katana D-07

Collin Kelly J-26

Comfort Love H-25

Corin M Howell D-06

Corinne Roberts G-27

Cosmic Spectrum E-41

Creees Lee I-36

Criss Madd I-16

Crystal Fae L-06

Cully Hamner D-16

Curoie F-42

Curtis Clow F-02

Cvammen Studio G-37

Cyarin J-04

D

daifei A-33

Damien Torres B-26

Dan Cooney H-07

Dan Dougherty G-23

Dan Jurgens C-01

Dan Mora D-04

Dan Panosian D-17

Dan Parent B-08

Dan Slott I-40

Dane Ault / Monkey

Minion Press B-20

Dani Colman H-26

Daniel Henriques J-18

Daniel Kamarudin F-29

Daniel Warren Johnson D-19

Daniele Afferni Magnus Arts H-16

Danielle Otrakji D-38

Danillo Beyruth J-17

Danny Haas C-18

Danny Lore D-02

Danny Schlitz I-15

Danny Schwartz G-41

Dario Brizuela B-05

Darryl DMC McDaniels C-11

Dave Fox Art B-15

Dave Johnson D-15

Davey Deforne J-07

David Mack H-19

David BaldeÃ_n C-07

David Cole H-27

David Finch J-34

David Messina E-33

David Pepose H-43

Daxiong K-22

Dean Kotz F-47

Deandra Tan F-41

Declan Shalvey E-29

Denis Kitchen G-03 , G-04

Devin Kraft L-28

Diego Casasola G-34

Dike Ruan I-26

Dirk Manning H-08

DIZZY.YU E-39

DJ Corchin G-24

Doc Shaner I-29

Don Kramer L-32

Donato K-27

Dong Ho Kim L-09

Donny Cates J-37

Doodle for Food K-15

Dopepope L-33

Dustin Panzino

L-23

E

E. M. Gist

L-26

E.J. Su H-15

Eddie Avila J-08

Edgar Delgado

L-13

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez H-28

Eduardo Nunez F-12

Eduardo Risso K-01

Edwin Huang G-20

Eli Neugeboren

E-15

Elias Chatzoudis L-16

Ellie Wright G-38 Emiliano Urdinola C-16

Emily S. Whitten A-04

Emma Kubert J-19

Enid Balam B-25

Eric Palicki G-15

Erica Schultz H-14

Erica Williams K-23

Erik Ly L-18

Erin Lefler A-06

Esau Escorza D-46

Ethan M. Aldridge C-35

F

Fabian Nicieza A-36 Fabiano Neves F-27

Fabrice Sapolsky F-25

Fan Yang J-06

Federico Vicentini A-13 Felipe Cagno F-27

Fernanda Suarez B-23

Fian Arroyo K-24

Francesco Manna E-35

Francesco Mobili H-22

Francine Delgado G-30

Franck Uzan A-32

Franco B-02

Frank Cho H-42

Frank J. Barbiere E-21

Frank Tieri J-35

Fred Van Lente A-18

G

Gabby Ramirez I-04

Gabriel Ribeiro A-31

Gavin Guidry E-31

Gavin Smith G-22 George Vega I-14

Gerardo Sandoval I-28

German Peralta C-15

Gerry Duggan I-44

Gideon Kendall G-02

Gillian Newland

Illustration L-17

Giovanni Valletta L-34

Giuseppe Camuncoli C-32

Grace Freud E-04

Grace Lee G-37

Greg A. Elysee E-16

Greg Burnham A-27

Greg Capullo H-48

Gregory Horn L-21

Gregory Maldonado F-43

H

Hammling K-25

Harmony Gong D-25

Henry Barajas F-26

Humberto Ramos Art L-11

I

Iban Coello A-15

Ingrid Gala I-22

InHyuk Lee C-27

Isaac Escorza D-46

Isaac Goodhart H-31

Isadora Zeferino I-11

Ivan Reis H-01

J

J Yang E-42

Jackson Lanzing J-26

Jacob Chabot B-04

Jacoby Salcedo E-37

Jae Lee A-21

Jamal Igle C-03

James Tynion IV C-21

Jane Zei K-15

Janet K Lee H-12

Janet Sung B-18

Jasmyn Arnold D-43

Jason Metcalf D-28

Jason Palmer C-36

Javi Fernandez L-12

Javier Avila B-12

Jax B-24

Jay Fosgitt G-26

Jayme Twins E-08

Jed McKay A-12

Jeff Dekal K-21

Jeffrey Burandt A-17

Jen Taylor B-06

Jenna Lyn Wright A-30

Jennifer Hernandez A-07

Jeremy Adams I-34

Jeremy Bastian L-31

Jeremy Haun L-19

Jeremy Holt H-27

Jerome Opena L-03

Jerry Ma K-17

Jesse Hernandez

@Urbanaztec E-13

Jesse Lonergan G-35

Jesus Salvador +

Aburto Martinez K-02

Jiji Knight I-10

Jim Calafiore B-21

Jim Mahfood C-06

Jim Shooter F-07

Jim Zub J-28

JimboBox F-34

Jimmy Palmiotti I-07

Jock H-46

Jody LeHeup D-41

Joe Caramagna A-09

Joe Corroney G-09

Joe Dragunas E-17

Joe Eisma E-23

Joe Harris G-17

Joe Mulvey E-22

JOE PRADO J-16

Joe Quesada L-01

Joelle Jones I-03

Joey Mason L-30

Joey Spiotto C-17

John Beatty E-46

John Giang J-10

John J. Pearson D-39

John Timms D-11

Jonathan H-45

Jonathon Hickman I-48

Jorge Molina D-29

Jorge Fornes I-32

Josef Rubinstein G-31

Joseph Schmalke B-14

Josh Burcham K-04

Joshua (SwayArt) Swaby H-33

Joshua Williamson I-33

Joyce Chin D-10

Juan Doe L-33

Julio Anta E-37

Justin Greenwood B-34

Justin Mason E-30

K. Lynn Smith

K

G-28

Kael Ngu C-28

Kami Garcia H-30

Karen Hallion C-20

Karl Slominski A-30

Kat Calamia & Phil Falco F-21

Katie Cook A-01

Kayden Phoenix F-45

Keishla Rodriguez A-29

Keith Dallas L-32

Keith Williams

F-03

Kelly McKernan K-06

Ken Knudtsen K-18

Ken Lashley A-20

Kevin Eastman D-48

Kevin Maguire

J-11

Kim Jung Gi L-10

Kit Steele H-03

Klaus Janson E-10

Kristen Gudsnuk E-07

Kyle Higgins H-39

Kyle Strahm K-08

L

Lady Sara Richard B-03

Lauren Affe E-21

Lauren Moran D-03

Lauren Walsh D-44

Leandro Fernandez C-14

Leanne Huynh K-05

Lee Garbett L-04

Lee Wagner E-14

Lee Weeks E-09

Leila Leiz

E-32

Leo Leibelman F-23

Lisa Villella K-33

Litarnes B-27

Livio Ramondelli D-26

Lloyd Briggery

F-11

Luca Pizzari D-34

Luciano Vecchio C-04

Luis Antonio Delgado D-47

Lynne Yoshii

F-31

Marco Checchetto C-33

Marco Failla H-37

Marco Rudy D-34

Marco Santucci H-38

Marcus Williams A-28

Maria Sanapo H-38

Mark Brooks I-01

Mark Dos Santos G-11

Mark Morale s J-12

Mark Russell H-41

Mark Sable K-09

Martin Morazzo C-08

Martin Simmonds C-23

Matt Gaudio F-10

Matt Hawkins K-10

Matt Knowles & Steph Cannon (Insymmetry Creations) L-27

Matteo Lolli E-12

Matteo Scalera D-14

Max Bare K-35

Max Fiumara C-13

Megan Hutchinson J-33

Megan Lara H-11

Meghan Fitzmartin I-35

Melissa Capriglione G-07

Meredith McClaren G-12

Michael Golden F-08

Michael Locoduck Duron B-36

Michael Matsumoto B-11

Michal Ivan I-25

Michele Bandini E-34

Miguel Arcanjo de Mendonca F-35

Mike Del Mundo I-46

Mike Huddleston I-47

Mike Krome A-25

Mike Lilly H-18

Mindy Lee E-14

Minivanvan G-43

Mirka Andolfo H-35

MissChibiArtist F-40

Missy Pena B-16

MJ Kim G-40

Mostafa Moussa G-32

M

Mahmud Asrar D-30

Maika Sozo D-12

Marc Laming J-32

Marc Silvertri I-43

Marcelo Ferreira L-29

NNaomi Romero H-25

N. Steven Harris E-16

Nao F-30

Naomi VanDoren G-36

Natalie Andrewson B-19

Nathan Fox D-42

Neal Adams Family F-05

NerfAlice J-23

Nick Dragotta D-20

Nick Spencer I-45

nooligan C-09

O

Oliver Bly K-34

Olivier Coipe l L-02

Olivier Vatine I-24

OSHET B-35

P

Pablo Leon E-38

Paolo Villanelli E-36

Patabot K-16

Paul Czarnowski K-04

Peach Momoko D-01

Penelopeloveprints K-32

Peter David G-05

Peter Han L-08

Peter Nguyen A-19

Philip Tan J-20

Phillip Kennedy Johnson C-26

Phillip Sevy E-02

Picolo H-29

Pineapplebread E-05

PJ D-27

PolarArts B-28

Priscilla Kim G-21

R

Rachael Stott I-05

Rachelle Rosenberg K-30

Ram V C-30

Ramon Rosanas A-14

Ray-Anthony Height I-13

Reilly Brown H-09

Renee Witterstaetter F-06

Ricardo Drumond I-25

Ricardo Lopez Ortiz Ortiz L-14

Rich Bernatovech K-13

Rich Douek E-22

Rich Wojcicki B-32

Robby Poggi L-29

Robert Atkins H-17

Robert Wilson IV E-24

Rod Reis E-11

Rodney Ramos F-06

Roge Antonio J-15

RootisTabootus H-24

Rossi Gifford E-03

Russ Braun K-28

Ryan Browne J-31

Ryan Kincaid

D-45

Ryan Ottley J-36

Ryan Parrott H-40

Ryan Stegman J-38

S

Sabine Rich A-24

Sajad Shah E-47

Sam Johns C-25

Sam Maggs I-39

Samantha Dodge F-22

Sanford Greene

D-21

Sara Alfageeh I-06

Sara Woolley E-15

Sasha Yosselani F-33

Scott Bryan Wilson F-38

Scott Hanna H-10

Scott Snyder H-47

Sean Anderson I-18

Sean Murphy D-08

Sean Von Gorman A-17

Sedat Oezgen F-16

Serafleur F-29

Shawn Crystal D-13

Siberian Lizard B-33

Simone Di Meo I-27 Skirtzzz G-14

Soo Lee H-23

Sorah Suhng F-20 Steph C E-26 Stephanie Hans C-31 Stephanie Lavaud I-23 Stephanie Phillips J-22 Stephanie Williams H-34 Stephen Green D-23 Stephen Willey of Eyes On Fire B-31 Steve McNiven J-27 Steve Orlando H-32 Steven Defendini K-07 Stuart Sayger E-19

Sun Bros Studios G-25 Sweeney Boo I-38

T

Tom Waltz D-47

Tom Derenick L-15

Tom Kelly K-31

Tom King I-30

Tom Richmond C-02

Toma Vagner L-24

Tomeu Morey H-21

ToniRenea F-19

“Tony “”KO!”” Kordos” H-02

Tony Daniel H-44

Tony Moy H-20

Tracie Ching E-25

Tran Nguyen E-06

Tula Lotay D-31

U

Uko Smith G-47

V

V Ken Marion K-12

Velinxi F-37

Vera Greentea F-32

Vincenzo Federici A-35

W

WAY$HAK E-44

Werther Dell’edera C-22

Wes Craig D-35

Whiskey Mech Inc. (Andy MacDonald) K-19

Will Conrad F-28

Will Sliney K-29

Will Torres F-24

WOLF F-14

Y

Yale Stewart A-23

Yanick Paquette I-37

Yehudi Mercado K-36

yuu E-40

Tana!

G-16

Taylor Sterry Art G-39 Terry Dodson K-11

Thom Zahler A-03

Tim Jacobus C-10

Tim Seeley D-36 Timothy Von Rueden H-04 TJ Sterling K-37

Zachery Johnson

Z

J-09

Zack Kaplan D-40

Zeb Wells I-42

Zeea Adams

Zu Orzu I-21

COSPLAY IS NOT CONSENT

Hate symbols are not permitted at New York Comic Con (NYCC), including as part of cosplay, and NYCC will not allow costumes that contain hate symbols or appropriate the symbolism of hate groups, including, but not limited to, historical/comic-related/ satirical costumes that are associated with Nazis. Whether a behavior or a costume violates this policy shall be determined by NYCC in its sole discretion.

If a person engages in harassing behavior, NYCC Staff will take prompt action in any form they deem appropriate, including expulsion from NYCC with no refund. Our policy applies to EVERYONE at the convention. Exhibitors, fans (attendees), speakers, guests, professionals, press, staff, crew, and security are all subject to our Anti-Harassment Policy.

Anyone can report harassment. If someone’s behavior has made you uncomfortable, or if you witness the same happening to someone else, you should immediately contact NYCC Staff, Security Team, or a Crew member. You may also come to NYCC’s Show Office or report the incident via the NYCC App.

If necessary, we will contact local law enforcement, provide an escort, offer a safe place or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to make sure they feel safe for the rest of NYCC.

Keep your hands to yourself. If you would like to take a picture with or of another NYCC fan, always ask first and respect that person’s right to say no. When at NYCC, be respectful, be nice, be cool, and be kind to each other.

ReedPop’s mission is to create a fun, safe, welcoming, awesome event where fans of all kinds can come together and celebrate. We want you to not only have the most amazing weekend ever, but to experience it in an environment where you are safe and accepted. As fans ourselves, we understand the importance of creating a safe space for everyone who attends NYCC.

AND SAFETY

New York Comic Con has a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for harassment of any kind, including but not limited to:

• Stalking

Offensive Verbal Comments

Harassing Or Non-Consensual

Or Recording

Bathroom Policing

Unwelcome Physical Attention

Intimidation

Physical Assault And/Or

Sustained Disruption Of Panels, Signings, And Other Events

Inappropriate Physical Contact

Hate Symbols

In relation, but not limited to:

Race

National Origin

Gender Identity

Sexual Orientation

Body Size

Appearance

Citizenship

Color

Gender

Gender Presentation

Age

Disability

Religion

Pregnancy

With the evolving nature of the COVID-19 situation, we are constantly looking at the published guidance from health authorities and trying to ensure our decisions accommodate all our customers and promote a safe gathering. As an extra precaution for New York Comic Con 2022, we have made the decision to require approved face coverings for all participants at all times while indoors at NYCC. You can read more at NYCC2022.com/Safety.

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In this team-up of kings, Thor, King of Asgard, and Eddie Brock, King in Black, must set aside their personal differences to save the one thing they both love: Earth! NYCC Booth Exclusive with variant cover art by Will Sliney who will be at the booth signing covers Saturday at 11 a.m. EST.

Donny Cates writes Venom once again, alongside guest artist Salvador Larroca!

Spree!

Here’s a handy guide to eBay’s exclusives at the booth on the NYCC show floor.

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by eBay.

SPIDER-MAN #1 EBAY EXCLUSIVE VARIANT

The new series not only takes advantage of Spidey’s 60th anniversary, it also debuts in the lead-up to 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Marvel Comics has been teasing the third and final chapter in the SpiderVerse trilogy, and now we know exactly what that series is. Marvel will launch a new monthly series in October simply titled Spider-Man, and it features two of the most prolific Spider-Man creators in the company’s long history.

Spider-Man features the return of Dan Slott, who wrote several hundred issues of The Amazing Spider-Man between 2008 and 2018 and penned the original Spider-Verse crossover in 2014. Joining Slott is artist Mark Bagley, whose past work includes multiple volumes of The Amazing Spider-Man and an impressive 111 consecutive issues of Ultimate Spider-Man NYCC Booth Exclusive with variant cover art by Romy Jones

Available from Thursday, Oct. 6 - Sunday Oct. 9

Limited to 125 units per day in both trade dress and virgin variants.

SÉANCE TAROT CARDS

This will be the third exclusive that Metazoo is launching with eBay. NYCC attendees will have access to an exclusive tarot box starting on 10/6 at 11 a.m. ET. All other Metazoo fans will have access to the Tarot exclusive starting on 10/8 at 2 p.m. ET.

SLAM-GIRL NFTS NYCC EXCLUSIVE

Slam-Girl is the secret superhero created by Stan Lee and Will Meugniot in 2000—debuting to the world as a web3 NFT Collection in collaboration with eBay and OneOf.

Slam-Girl was a 20-something slacker whose encounter with radioactive-contaminated Old Spider Bite Lite Beer imbued her with an array of super powers she very reluctantly embraced. Stan was convinced that the millennial culture was ready for a superhero upgrade.

“That Stan created a parody successor to Spider-Man was something very few people knew.” says Shirrel Rhoades, Stan Lee’s successor as publisher of Marvel Comics. “When I discovered this never-exploited superhero character among the collection, I contacted Stan’s co-creator, legendary Spider-Man Unlimited, X-Men and Captain Planet producer and director Will Meugniot, and enlisted his collaboration in bringing this ‘lost’ super hero to the world’s attention.”

COLLECTOR’S DIGEST

MARVEL’S NYC

Here are the NYC neighborhoods where your favorite Marvel heroes hang out.

HELL’S KITCHEN

Hell’s Kitchen might not resemble the gritty neighborhood that Daredevil spends his time patrolling. These days, he’s likely more worried about paying what would surely be the astronomical rent for the Nelson & Murdock: Attorneys at Law office.

DOCTOR STRANGE’S SANCTUM SANCTORUM

177A BLEECKER ST

The Sanctum Sanctorum has an actual address, but you’ll probably be disappointed when you try to find it (we like to think it’s been disguised by magic). There’s plenty of magic in that part of Greenwich Village, though, so any excuse for a visit!

AVENGERS MANSION

890 5TH AVENUE

In the comics, the Avengers hung out in a fortified mansion near Central Park.

It’s inspired by the real-life Henry Clay Frick House, which is right next door!

THE BAXTER BUILDING

42ND STREET AND MADISON AVENUE

According to Marvel lore, the Fantastic Four’s HQ is located on the corner of 42nd and Madison. Considering the dangerous stuff that the team get up to, you’d think it might bring the rent down in that neighborhood, but nope!

THE DAILY BUGLE

39TH STREET AND 2ND AVENUE

Marvel’s most famous fictional publication! Walk down that block, and you might just hear J. Jonah Jameson demanding pictures of Spider-Man. (In the movies, the real-life Flatiron Building at 175 5th Avenue stood in).

YANCY STREET

DELANCEY STREET AND ESSEX STREET

The Fantastic Four’s Thing grew up on the tough (but fictional) Yancy Street. It’s no coincidence that it rhymes with “Delancey” since that’s where FF co-creator Jack Kirby grew up. We like to think of “Yancy St.” as around the corner of Delancey and Essex, right near where Kirby was born.